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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 

Commodore  Byron  McCandless 


THE    CONSTITUTION 


UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 


VOL.    II. 


"As  the  British  Constitution  is  tlie  most  subtile  organism  which  has 
proceeded  from  progressive  history,  so  the  American  Constitution  is  the 
most  wonderful  work  ever  struck  off  at  a  given  time  by  the  brain  and 
purpose  of  man." — William  E.  Gladstcne. 


HISTORY 


FOPiMATION  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION 


UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA. 


BY 

GEORGE    BANCEOFT. 


/y  TWO    VOLUMES 

VOL.    II. 

SIXTH    EDITION. 


NEW  YORK: 
D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY, 

1,  3,  AifD  5  BOND  STEEET. 

1889. 


COPTniGHT  BY 

GEORGE    BANCROFT, 

1882, 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK  III. 

THE    FEDERAL     CONVENTIOK. 
CHAPTER  I. 

THE    CONSTITUTION    IN    OUTLINE.       1787. 

Events  overruled  by  justice,  3  —  General  desire  for  a  closer  union,  3  — 
Character  of  the  elections  to  the  federal  convention,  3  —  Journey  to  Philadel- 
phia, 4  —  Arrival  of  Washington,  4  —  Opening  of  the  federal  convention,  4 

—  The  Virginia  members  prepare  a  finished  plan,  5 — Washington  declares  for 
a  new  constitution,  5  —  Position  of  Edmund  Randolph,  5  —  His  station  and 
character,  fij;;- Virginia  unites  under  the  lead  of  Madison,  7  —  Shall  the  con- 
vention vote  by  states,  7  —  Arrival  of  delegates,  7  —  Their  jarring  opinions,  8 

—  AVashington's  appeal  to  them,  8  —  The  convention  oi'ganized,  8  —  Limited 
power  of  tlie  delegates  from  Delaware,  8  —  Position  of  Rhode  Island,  8  — 
Character  of  the  delegates,  9 — Votes  of  individuals  not  to  be  recorded,  10  — 
Randolph  opens  the  convention,  10 — He  proposes  an  outline  of  a  constitution, 
11 — Proposal  of  Virginia  to  found  representation  on  free  inhabitants,  13  — 
Charles  Pinckney  presents  a  plan,  14  —  Debates  in  committee,  14  —  Butler 
supports  the  Virginia  plan,  14  —  Government  must  act  on  individuals,  1 5  — 
Sherman  not  yet  ready,  15  — Debate  on  equality  of  suffrage,  15  — Delaware 
interposes,  15  — The  legislature  to  be  of  two  branches,  16  — One  branch  to  be 
directly  chosen  by  the  people,  17  -Extent  of  the  federal  legislative  powers,  17 

—  The  right  to  negative  any  state  law  denied,  18  —  Coercion  of  states,  19  — 
The  national  executive,  19  —  The  mode  of  its  election  and  its  powers,  20  — 
Shall  it  be  of  one  or  more,  20  —  Sherman  for  its  subordination  to  the  legisla- 
ture, 21  — Shall  there  be  unity  in  the  executive,  21  — Shall  it  be  chosen  by  the 
people,  21— Its  period  of  service,  22  —  How  to  be  chosen,  22  — How  to  be 
removed,  23  —  Speech  of  Dickinson  for  a  vote  by  states  in  one  branch  of  the 
legislature,  23  —  Randolph  proposes  an  executive  of  three  members,  24  — 
Opinions  on  an  executive  council,  24  —  The  executive  to  be  single,  25  —  The 
veto  power,  25  —  The  judiciary,  26  —  Shall  the  house  of   representatives  be 


VI  CONTEXTS. 

chosen  by  the  states,  2G  —  Or  by  the  people,  27  —  How  both  branches  arc  to  be 
chosen,  28  —  Hamilton's  opinion,  29 — Appointment  of  judges,  29  —  How  to 
choose  the  senate,  29  —  Are  the  states  in  danger,  30  —  The  equality  of  the 
small  states  defended,  31 — Franklin  interposes  as  a  peacemaker,  32 — Con- 
necticut the  umpire  between  the  small  states  and  the  large  ones,  32  —  The 
largo  states  prevail,  33  —  The  requirement  of  an  oath,  34  —  Term  of  office  and 
qualifications  of  representatives,  34  —  Of  senators,  35  —  The  work  of  the  com- 
mittee ended,  35. 

CHAPTER  II. 

XEW    JERSEY    CLAIMS    AN    EQUAL    REmESENTATION    OF    THE    STATES.       IVSV. 

The  small  states  dissatisfied,  36  —  The  plan  of  Connecticut,  36  —  New  Jersey 
resists  the  large  states,  38 — The  plan  of  New  Jersey,  39  —  Debate  on  the  ex- 
tent of  the  powers  of  the  convention,  39  —  Paterson  pleads  for  the  equality  of 
the  states  in  one  supreme  council,  40  —  Debate  on  the  sovereignty  of  a  single 
body,  41  —  Speech  and  plan  of  Hamilton,  42  —  How  his  plan  was  received,  45 

—  The  Virginia  plan  reported  to  the  house,  46. 

CHAPTER    III. 

THE    CONNECTICUT    COMPROMISE.       1787. 

The  states  and  the  nation,  47  —  Independence  declared  unitedly,  48  —  Con- 
necticut takes  the  lead,  48  —  Character  of  Roger  Sherman,  48  —  Of  Johnson, 
CO — Of  Ellsworth,  51  —  Federal  and  national,  51 — Speech  of  Mason  for  two 
branches,  52  —  Sherman  for  two  branches,  53  t-  The  convention  decides  for 
two  branches,  54  —  Wilson  speaks  for  the  general  government  and  the  state 
governments,  55  —  Ellsworth  would  graft  a  general  government  on  the  state 
governments,  56  —  The  mode  of  choosing  and  term  of  office  of  the  senators,  56 

—  The  decision,  57 — ^  Fierce  contest  between  the  smaller  states  and  the  large 
ones,  58  —  Franklin  proposes  prayer,  59  —  The  debate  continues,  GO  —  Suffrage 
in  the  first  branch  proportioned  to  population,  61 — Ellsworth  would  have  the 
vote  in  the  senate  by  states,  62 — Speech  of  Baldwin,  62 — "Wilson  refuses  to 
yield,  62  — So  docs  Madison,  63  —  Persistence  of  Ellsworth,  64  — Ho  is  sup- 
ported by  North  Carolina,  65  —The  convention  equally  divided,  66  —  Appoiut- 
inent  of  a  grand  coinniittcc  to  report  a  conipromi.se,  67. 

CHAPTER    IV. 

THE    ADJUSTMENT    OK    IlEPUESENTATION. 

Franklin'^  compromise,  68  —  ^lorris  claims  reprcsentatinn  for  property,  69 

—  TLe  ratio  of  representation  referred  to  a  committee,  70  —  Kcport  of  tlie 
coir.mitff'C,  71 — Appointment  of  a  conmiittce  of  one  from  each  state,  72  —  Its 
report,  72  —  Madison's  projiosal  of  conii)r()nii.''e,  72  —  licport  of  the  new  com- 


CONTEIS'TS.  Vll 

mittee,  72  —  Approved  by  all  except  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  '73  —  Yates 
and  Lansing  desert  their  post,  74  —  The  southern  states  have  a  majority  in  the 
convention,  75  —  Abolition  of  slavery  in  the  North,  76  —  Movement  against  the 
slave-trade,  77  —  Two  classes  of  slave  states,  78  —  Jealousy  of  the  speedy 
preponderance  of  western  states,  79  —  The  equal  rights  of  the  western  states 
maintained,  80  —  Strife  on  the  representation  for  slaves,  81 — A  triple  set  of 
parties  prevent  a  decision,  82  —  Rash  proposal  of  Morris,  83  —  Taxation  and 
representation,  83 — Slaves  to  be  counted  as  three  fifths  in  representation,  84 

—  Morris  fears  injury  to  commerce  fi'om  the  influence  of  western  states,  85  — 
Representation  in  the  second  branch  proportioned  to  numbers,  86  —  Effect  of 
the  decision  on  the  political  power  of  the  South,  87  —  The  senate  to  vote  by 
states,  88. 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE    OUTLIXE    OF    THE    CONSTITUTION    COMPLETED    AND    REFERRED. 

The  distribution  of  powers  between  the  general  government  and  the  states, 
89  —  Relation  of  federal  legislation  to  that  of  the  states,  90  —  Property  quali- 
fication  as  a  condition  of  holding  office,  91 — Qualification  of  the  electors  left 
to  the  states,  92  —  Extent  of  the  jurisdiction  of  federal  tribunals,  93  —  How 
the  new  constitution  was  to  be  ratified,  94  —  Committee  of  five  ordered  to  re- 
port the  resolutions  of  the  convention  in  the  form  of  a  constitution,  95  — 
Character  of  Rutledge,  95  —  Industry  of  the  committee,  96  —  Anxiety  of  the 
country,  97. 

CHAPTER    VI. 

THE   COLONIAL    SYSTEM    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES. 

The  ordinance  of  1787,  98 — Treaty  with  the  Shawnees,  98  —  Monroe's  jour- 
ney to  the  West,  99  —  Report  of  a  grand  committee  on  the  western  territory, 
99  —  Monroe's  plan  for  a  northwestern  ordinance,  100  —  Monroe  and  restric- 
tions on  slavery,  101  —  Certain  waters  and  carrying  places  declared  free,  101  — 
The  Connecticut  reserve,  101 — The  proposed  five  states  in  the  northwest,  102 

—  Jealousy  of  the  western  states,  103,  104  —  Kaskaskias,  103  —  Urgent  need 
of  a  territorial  government,  104  —  Progress  of  the  bill,  105 — Rufus  Putnam's 
plan  for  colonizing  the  West,  105  —  His  appeal  to  Washington,  106  — Parsons 
visits  the  West,  106  —  Congress  quiets  the  Indian  title  to  a  gi-eat  part  of  Ohio, 
107  —  Formation  of  the  Ohio  company,  108  —  Parsons  presents  its  memorial  to 
congress,  109  — Effect  of  the  memorial,  110  —  Power  of  the  South,  110  — 
Cutler  before  congress,  110  —  Carrington's  report.  111  —  Richard  Henry  Lee 
on  a  new  committee  of  seven,  112  —  Ordinance  for  governing  the  territory  of 
the  United  States,  112  —  Its  clauses,  112  —  Clause  on  contracts,  113  —  Grayson 
and  slavery,  114  —  Nathan  Dane  and  King,  115  —  History  of  the  clause  against 
slavery,  116  —  Virginia  accepts  the  ordinance  with  its  exclusion  of  slavery,  117 

—  The  rights  of  the  free  negro  in  New  York  and  Virginia,  118. 


Vm  COIfTEXTS. 

CHAPTER  VII, 

THE   CONSTITCTIOX   IN    DETAIL.      THE   POWERS   OF   CONGRESS.      AugUSt,  1Y87. 

Report  of  the  committee  of  detail,  119  —  The  constitution  a  government  by 
the  people,  119  —  Membership  of  a  colony  defined,  120  —  Who  are  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  121  —  The  new  government  a  unity  in  plurality,  121  — 
The  tripartite  division  of  powers,  121 — Election  of  the  members  of  congress, 
122  —  Continuous  succession  of  the  government  provided  for,  122 — The  new 
government  to  be  supported  from  the  common  treasury,  122  —  Number  of 
representatives,  123  —  Qualifications  of  membership,  123 — Discrimination 
against  the  foreign-born,  124  —  Property  qualification  rejected,  125  —  The 
quorum,  125  —  Qualifications  of  electors,  126  —  To  be  established  by  each 
state  for  itself,  128  —  Relation  of  the  slave-trade  to  representation,  128  —  Of 
slavery,  129  —  Why  slaves  should  not  be  represented,  130  —  The  question 
adjourned,  132  —  Powers  granted  to  the  new  government,  132  —  Power  to  emit 
paper  money  objected  to  by  Hamilton,  132  —  By  Gouverneur  Morris,  132  —  By 
Mason,  Gorham,  Mercer,  Ellsworth,  and  Randolph,  133  —  By  Wilson  and  Lang- 
don,  134 — Madison's  vote  decides  that  the  power  shall  not  be  granted,  134  — 
How  friends  of  paper  money  stand  in  history,  135  —  Power  of  the  states  to  emit 
paper  money,  136  —  The  power  absolutely  prohibited,  137  —  Power  left  to  the 
states  to  interfere  with  contracts,  138  —  But  not  to  interfere  ex  post  facto,  138 

—  The  term  ex  post  facto  defined,  139 — Power  of  the  congress  to  encourage 
manufactures  by  impost  duties,  139  —  Shall  states  or  the  United  States  encour- 
age  manufactures,  140  —  Power  confined  to  the  United  States,  141  — States  not 
to  treat  with  foreign  powers  or  other  states,  141  — Slaves  and  representation,  142 

—  Who  are  citizens,  143  —  Fugitives  from  justice,  143  —  Fugitive  slaves,  144. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE   TOWERS    OF   CONGRESS,    CONTINUED.      AugUSt,    \1S1. 

The  assumption  of  the  state  debts,  145  —  Jurisdiction  over  crimes,  145  — 
Power  to  subdue  a  rebellion,  146  —  Power  of  declaring  war,  146  —  General  pro- 
po.sitions  of  Madison,  146  —  The  army,  navy,  and  militia,  147  —  Clause  on  the 
militia,  148  —  Compromise  on  the  appointment  of  militia  officers,  149  —  Power 
to  execute  the  powers  granted,  149  —  Treason,  149  —  State  laws  cannot  shield 
the  traitor,  150  —  Commerce  and  the  slave-trade,  151  — Exports  exempted  from 
taxation,  152  —  Debate  on  continuing  the  slave-trade,  152  —  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  threaten  to  secede,  155  —  Dickinson  hints  at  a  compromise,  156  — 
North  ("arolina  will  join  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  on  the  qtiestion,  150  —  The 
question  committed,  157  —  The  fiuestions  of  the  slave-trade  and  of  a  navigation 
act  committed,  157  —  The  compromise  of  tlic  committee,  158 — Final  shape  of 
the  compromise,  159  —  Slave-trade  abolislud  after  twenty  years,  159  —  Doom 
of  Blave-holding,  100  —  Why  the  British  failed  in  retaining  the  South,  160  — 
How  hIuvcs  may  emerge  into  the  human  character,  101 — Grant  of  power  to 


COISTTENTS.  IX 

regulate  commerce,  162  —  The  admission  of  new  states  within  the  limits  of  the 
United  states,  162  —  The  admission  of  new  states  from  abroad  permitted,  163 

—  Special  provision  for  the  admission  of  Vermont,  1G3 — Powers  of  congress 
over  the  territory  and  other  property  of  the  United  States,  164  —  Limit  on  the 
taxation  of  slaves,  164. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  PRESIDENT.     July — September,  1*787. 

The  choice  of  the  president  a  difficult  problem,  165  —  How  shall  he  be 
chosen,  166  —  Shall  he  be  re-eligible,  166  —  The  tenure  of  good  behavior  con- 
sidered, 167  —  Question  between  the  tenure  of  good  behavior  or  the  tenure  for 
seven  years  with  perpetual  re-eligibility,  168  —  Choice  by  the  national  legisla- 
ture and  re-eligibility  incompatible,  168  —  The  choice  of  the  president  by  the 
aggregate  people  rejected,  169  —  The  choice  by  an  electoral  college,  169  —  Ob- 
jections started  against  it,  170  —  A  triple  executive  proposed,  17u  —  Relation 
of  re-eligibility  of  the  executive  to  the  length  of  the  period  of  office,  171  — 
Madison  proposes  the  election  by  the  people  at  large,  171  —  Jealousy  of  the 
smaller  states,  171  — Proposal  that  each  person  should  vote  for  two  candidates, 
the  highest  to  prevail,  172  —  Different  plans  proposed,  172  —  The  convention 
votes  for  a  single  executive,  to  be  chosen  by  the  legislature  for  seven  years, 
and  to  be  ineligible,  173 — The  decision  not  accepted  as  final,  173  —  Report  of 
the  committee  of  detail,  173  —  Antagonism  of  the  smaller  and  the  large  states, 
174  —  The  choice  of  the  president  by  the  vote  of  the  states  negatived,  175  — 
Subject  referred  to  a  committee  of  eleven,  176  — Opinions  of  Gouverneur  Mor- 
ris, 176  —  Of  Sherman,  177  —  Report  of  the  committee,  177  —  The  president  to 
be  voted  for  in  the  electoral  colleges  of  the  states,  178  —  And  the  vote  to  be 
counted  by  the  senate,  178  —  The  plan  of  leaving  so  much  power  to  the  senate 
objected  to,  179  —  Continued  debate,  180  — Speech  of  Wilson,  181  — Of  Hamil- 
ton, 182  —  How  the  votes  were  to  be  counted,  182  —  The  mode  of  counting  in 
Massachusetts  preferred  to  that  of  Virginia,  183  —  A  summaiy  statement  of  the 
matter,  184  —  Election  of  the  vice-president,  186  —  Title  of  the  president,  187 

—  The  veto  power,  187  —  Power  of  pardon,  188 — The  president  commander- 
in-chief,  188  —  Restraints  proposed  on  the  executive  power,  188 — A  privy 
council  proposed,  189 — The  plan  for  a  council  rejected,  190 — Relation  of  the 
president  and  the  senate,  190  —  Power  of  war  and  peace,  191  —  Over  inter- 
course with  foreign  states,  191 — Power  of  appointment,  191 — Power  of 
removing,  192  —  Qualifications  of  the  president,  192  —  Impeachment  of  the 
president,  193  —  State  of  the  president  while  on  trial,  194  —  Judgment  in  case 
of  impeachment,  194. 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE_  FEDERAL  jTiDiciARY.     August — September,  1787. 

Report  on  the  federal  judiciary,  195  —  The  judiciary  and  the  veto  power,  196 

—  Proposals  of  Pinckncy,  196  —  Organization  of  federal  courts,  197  —  Judges 


X  CONTENTS. 

not  removable  by  address,  197  —  Extent  of  the  judicial  power,  198  —  The 
judiciary  and  unconstitutional  laws,  198  —  Senate  to  try  impeachments,  199  — 
To  cases  beginning  and  ending  in  a  state,  199  — The  original  jurisdiction  of  the 
supreme  court,  199  —  Its  appellate  powers,  200  —  Method  of  choosing  it,  201 

—  The  supreme  court  and  legislative  encroachments,  201  —  Protection  against 
erroneous  judgments,  201 — By  the  court,  202  —  By  congress,  203  —  By  the 
good  sense  of  the  land,  203  —  Methods  of  consolidating  the  union,  203  —  Of 
bankruptcies,  204  —  Of  money  bills,  204  —  Number  of  the  house  of  representa- 
tives, 204  —  How  the  constitution  was  to  be  ratified,  205  —  Randolph  and 
Franklin  for  another  federal  convention,  206. 

CHAPTER  XL 

THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  THK  CONTENTION.     12 — 17  September,  1787. 

Final  draft  of  the  constitution,  207  —  The  constitution  the  institution  of  a 
government  by  the  people,  208  —  Why  the  names  of  the  thirteen  states  were 
left  out  of  the  first  clause,  208  —  Federal  and  national,  208  —  The  veto  of  the 
president,  209  —  Of  juries,  209  —  Motion  for  a  bill  of  rights  defeated,  210  — 
No  title  for  the  president,  210  —  Of  encouraging  American  manufactures,  210 

—  Servitude  and  service,  211  —  How  to  introduce  the  constitution,  211 — The 
keeper  of  the  purse,  211  —  Power  to  cut  canals  negatived,  212  —  Of  a  univer- 
sity, 212 — No  state  to  trespass  on  the  rights  of  another  state,  213  —  The 
obligation  of  contracts,  214  —  The  distribution  of  representation,  214  —  Slavery 
not  recognised  as  a  legal  condition,  215  —  Modes  of  amending  the  constitution, 
216  —  Mason  dreads  navigation  acts,  217  —  Indecision  of  Randolph,  217  — 
Firmness  of  Pinckney,  218  —  Tlie  constitution  ordered  to  be  engrossed,  218  — 
Washington's  remark  to  members  of  the  convention,  219  —  Speech  of  Franklin, 
219  —  An  amendment  adopted  at  the  wish  of  Washington,  220  —  Appeals  of 
Morris  and  Hamilton  to  every  one  to  sign  the  constitution,  220  —  Three  refuse, 
221  — The  constitution  signed  by  every  state,  221  —  Prophecy  of  Franklin,  221 

—  The  meditations  of  Washington,  222. 


BOOK   IV. 

THE  PEOPLE    OF    THE   STATES   IN  JUDGMENT    ON    THE 
CONSTITUTION.     1787— 17S8. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THK  coxsTiTCTios  FN  coNOKESS  AND  IN  VIRGINIA. .  September — Novcmbcr,  1787. 

The  constitution  received   in  congress,  225  —  Opposed   in  congress,  226  — 
Amcnduicnts  desired  by  Lee,  227  —  la  supported  by  New  York,  228  —  Proposi- 


CONTENTS.  XI 

tions  of  New  Jersey,  228  —  Congress  against  Lee,  229  —  A  compromise  agreed 
upon,  229  —  Perseverance  of  Lee,  230  —  Efforts  of  Washington  in  Virginia, 
231 — Opponents  of  the  constitution  in  Virginia,  232  —  Washington  wins  over 
Randolph,  233  —  Monroe  writes  in  favor  of  adopting  the  constitution,  234  — 
The  legislature  of  Virginia,  234 — The  constitution  referred  to  a  state  conven- 
tion, 234  —  But  amendments  may  be  proposed  in  the  state  convention,  235  — 
Plan  for  a  second  federal  convention,  236  —  A  letter  from  Washington,  237. 


CHAPTER  11. 

THE   CONSTITUTION   IN   PENNSYLVANIA,    DELAVPARE,    AND   NEW   JERSEY,    AND   IN 

GEORGIA.      From  18  September,  1181,  to  2  January,  1788. 

Pennsylvania,  238  —  Franklin  presents  the  constitution  to  its  legislature,  239 

—  Long  debates  upon  it,  240  —  Reception  of  the  resolution  of  congress,  240  — 
A  convention  called,  241  —  Lee  and  Wilson  in  Pennsylvania,  241  —  Prompt 
meeting  of  the  Pennsylvania  convention,  242  —  Speech  of  Wilson  in  favor  of 
the  constitution,  242  — Opposed  by  Smilie,  245  — And  by  Whitehill,  216— On 
the  want  of  a  bill  of  rights,  247  —  Speech  of  Findley,  248  —  The  constitution  in 
the  Delaware  legislature,  249  —  The  Delaware  convention  ratifies  the  constitu- 
tion, 250  —  Pennsylvania  ratifies  the  constitution,  251  —  Act  of  the  legislature 
of  New  Jersey,  252  —  The  New  Jersey  convention  ratifies  the  constitution,  253 

—  The  legislature  of  Georgia,  253  —  Georgia  unanimously  ratifies  the  constitu- 
tion, 254. 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE   CONSTITrTION   IN   CONNECTICUT    AND    MASSACHUSETTS. 

Letter  of  Sherman  and  Ellsworth  to  the  governor  of  Connecticut,  255  —  The 
Connecticut  convention,  256 — Speeches  of  Ellsworth  and  Johnson,  256  — 
James  Wadsworth  and  answers  to  him,  257  —  Wise  conduct  of  Hancock,  258 

—  Massachusetts  calls  a  convention,  258  —  Condition  of  the  state,  259  —  The 
elections,  260  —  Samuel  Adams,  260  —  Opening  of  the  convention,  261  — 
Elbridge  Gerry,  261 — Conduct  of  Samuel  Adams,  262 — Objections  to  the 
constitution,  262  —  Property  qualifications,  263 — Representation  of  slaves, 
263  —  On  a  religious  test,  263  —  Period  of  office  for  senators,  264  —  King 
explains  the  constitution,  264  —  Dawes  argues  for  protective  duties,  264  —  The 
convention  wavering,  265  —  Washington  on  a  second  convrntion,  266 — Rally 
of  the  friends  of  the  constitution,  266  —  Objections  made  and  answered,  267  — 
The  slave-trade,  268  —  Hancock  proposes  resolutions,  269  —  Supported  by 
Samuel  Adams,  269  —  Amendments  referred  to  a  committee,  270 — The  com- 
mittee report  its  approval  of  the  constitution,  271  —  Objections  on  the  score 
of  the  slave-trade,  271 — And  for  the  want  of  a  bill  of  rights,  272  —  Stillman 
$peaks  for  the  constitution,  272  —  In  what  words  Hancock  proposed  the  ques- 


Xll  CONTEXTS. 

tion,  272  —  The  rote,  273  —  Acquiescence  of  the  opposition,  273  —  Madison 
adopts  the  policy  of  Massachusetts,  274  —  Opinions  of  Jefferson,  274  —  Of 
John  Adams,  276. 

CHAPTER    IV. 

THE    COXSTITniON    IX    XETT    HAMPSHIRE,    MAKYLAXD,    AXD    SOUTH    CAKOLINA. 

The  constitution  in  Xew  Hampshire,  277  —  Its  convention  adjourns,  278  — 
The  assembly  of  Maryland  calls  a  convention,  278  —  The  cabals  of  Virginia, 
279  —  Influence  of  Washington,  279 — The  election  of  a  convention  in  Mary- 
land, 280  —  Advice  of  Washington,  2S0  —  The  convention  of  Maryland  at  An- 
napolis, 281  —  Conduct  of  Chase,  282  —  Of  Paca,  282  —  Conduct  of  enemies 
and  friends  to  the  federal  government,  283  —  The  constitution  ratified,  283  — 
No  amendments  proposed,  284  —  Maryland  will  have  no  separate  confederacy, 
284 — Hopefulness  of  Washington,  285 — The  constitution  in  South  Carolina, 

285  —  Attitude  of  its  assembly,  286  —  Debate  between  Lowndes  and  Pinckney, 

286  — Why  there  was  no  bill  of  rights,  291  — Speech  of  Rutledge,  292  — Call 
of  a  convention,  292  —  The  convention  organized,  293  —  The  constitution  rati- 
fied, 293  —  Joy  of  Gadsden,  293  —  Effect  on  New  Hampshire,  294. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   CONSTITUTION    IN   VIRGINIA    AND   IN    NEW   HAMPSHIRE. 

Jay's  negotiation  with  Gardoqui,  295  —  Alarm  of  the  southern  states,  296  — 
Danger  of  a  separation  of  the  southern  states,  297  —  Failure  of  the  negotiation, 

298  —  Washington  and  Jefferson,  299  —  Randolph  will  support  the  constitution, 

299  —  Effect  of  the  example  of  Massachusetts  on  A'irgiuia,  300  —  The  opposi- 
tion in  the  Virginia  convention,  300  —  Madison  and  Pendleton,  301 — Mason, 
302  —  Patrick  Henry  leads  the  opposition,  302  —  Is  replied  to  by  Pendleton 
and  Madison,  303  —  Praise  of  the  British  constitution,  304  —  Madison  com- 
pares the  British  and  Americaa  constitutions,  305  —  Henry  speaks  against  the 
judiciary  system,  306  —  Marshall  defends  it,  300  —  The  debtor  planters,  307  — 
Henry  on  a  separate  confederacy,  308  —  Mason  and  Madison  on  the  slave-trade, 

309  —  And  Tyler,  310  —  Henry  fears  emancipation  by  the  general  government, 

310  —  Noble  speech  of  Randolph,  311  — Slavery  condemned  by  Johnson,  311  — 
Navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  311  — Contest  between  the  North  and  the  South, 

312  —  The  power  to  regulate  commerce,  313  —  The  prohibition  of  paper  money, 

313  —  Quieting  language  of  Henry,  314  —  The  convention  refuses  a  conditional 
ratification,  315  —  The  ratification,  310  —  lis  form,  310  —  Acquiescence  of  the 
oppoftilion,  317 — New  llampohirc  ratifies  before  Virginia,  318. 


coiTTEifTS.  xm 

BOOK  V. 

THE  FEDERAL   GOVERNMENT.    JUNE,  17S7. 
CHAPTER  I. 

THE     CONSTITUTION. 

The  American  constitution,  321  —  Its  forerunners,  321  —  Its  place  in  the 
world's  history-,  322  —  Individuality  the  character  of  Americans,  323  —  Why 
the  English  language  maintained  itself,  323  —  The  constitution  in  harmony  with 
individuality,  324  —  Freedom  of  the  individual  in  religion,  325  —  Slavery  an 
anomaly,  326  —  Tripartite  division  of  the  powers  of  government,  327  —  Tri- 
partite division  of  the  power  of  legislation,  328  —  How  the  constitution  is  to  be 
amended,  329  —  The  United  States  a  continental  republic,  330  —  A  federal 
republic,  331 — With  complete  powers  of  government,  331 — Powers  of  the 
states  not  by  grace,  but  of  right,  332  —  Sovereignty  of  the  law,  333  —  Who  are 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  333 — Their  power,  333  —  New  states  to  be 
admitted  on  equal  terms,  33-4  —  Necessity  of  revolution  provided  against,  334  — 
Extending  influence  of  the  federal  republic,  335  —  The  philosophy  of  the 
people,  335. 

CHAPTER   n. 

THE    LINGERING    STATES.       1787 17S9. 

The  Federalist  and  its  authors,  336  —  Hamilton  and  a  revenue  tariff,  337  — 
Unreasonableness  of  New  York,  339  —  Organization  of  the  federal  republicans, 
839  —  Clinton  recommends  the  encouragement  of  manufactures,  340  —  New 
York  legislature  orders  a  state  convention,  340  —  The  electors,  340  —  The 
meeting  of  the  convention  deferred  till  June,  340  —  Division  of  parties  in  New 
York,  340  —  Meeting  of  the  convention,  341  —  Livingstou  opens  the  debate, 
341  —  Speeches  of  Lansing,  Smith,  and  Hamilton,  342  —  News  from  New 
Hampshire,  342  —  Success  in  New  York  depends  on  Virginia,  342  —  Hamilton 
declares  his  opinions,  343  —  Clinton  replies,  343  —  News  received  of  the  ratifi- 
cation by  Virginia,  344  —  May  New  York  ratify  conditionally,  345  —  Debate 
between  Smith  and  Hamilton,  345  —  Lansing  holds  out,  345  —  Madison  con- 
demns a  conditional  ratification,  346 — The  opposition  in  New  York  give  way, 
347  —  But  ask  for  a  second  federal  convention,  347  —  Joy  of  New  York  city, 
347  —  Convention  of  North  Carolina,  348  —  Is  divided  by  parties,  349  —  Amend- 
ments proposed,  349  —  The  decision  postponed,  349  —  Conduct  of  Rhode  Island, 
350. 

CHAPTER    in. 

THE    FEDERAL    GOVERNMENT    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

Relations  of  America  to  Europe,  351  — Encroachments  of  England  in  Maine 
and  in  the  West,  351,  352  —  John  Adams  returns  home,  352  —  Adams  and 


XIV  CONTEjJ^TS. 

Jefferson,  353  —  Moderation  of  the  Pennsylvania  minority,  353 — Albert  Gal- 
latin, 353  —  The  Virginia  assembly  demands  a  second  federal  convention,  354 

—  Lee  and  Grayson  elected  senators,  354  —  Connecticut  refuses  a  second  con- 
vention, 355  —  And  Massachusetts,  355  —  And  Pennsylvania,  355  —  Dilatoriness 
of  congress,  356  —  Measures  for  commencing  proceedings  under  the  constitu- 
tion, 356  —  Federal  elections  in  Xew  York,  356  —  In  Virginia,  357  —  In  South 
Carolina,  35'i'  —  Party  divisions,  35S  —  Debates  in  congress  on  protection,  359 

—  Washington  sees  danger  to  the  union  from  the  South,  360  —  His  resolution 
on  leaving  Mount  Vernon,  360  —  His  reception  at  Alexandria,  360  —  At  Balti- 
more, 361 — In  Delaware,  361 — At  Philadelphia,  361  —  At  Trenton,  361 — In 
New  York,  362  —  His  inauguration,  362  —  His  address  to  the  two  houses,  363 

—  Public  prayers  in  the  church,  363 — Description  of  Washington,  364  —  Ad- 
dress to  him  from  the  senate,  364  —  From  the  representatives,  364  —  State  of 
Europe  at  the  time,  365  —  And  of  America,  366,  367. 

APPENDIX. 

LETTERS  AND  PAPERS. 
(For  Index  to  Letters  and  Papers,  see  page  497.) 


BOOK     III. 

THE  FEDERAL  CONYENTIOK 

May-Septembee,  1787. 


CHAPTER  I 

the  constitution  in  outline. 
14  May  to  13  Ju^-e,  1787. 
Do  nations  float  clarldinQ:  down  tlie  stream  of  the  chap. 


o 


I. 


ages  without  hope  or  consolation,  swaying  with  every 
wind  and  ignorant  whither  they  are  drifting  ?  or,  is  ^'^^  '?• 
there  a  superior  power  of  intelligence  and  love,  which 
is  moved  by  justice  and  shapes  their  course  ? 

From  the  ocean  to  the  American  outposts  nearest  the 
Mississippi  one  desire  prevailed  for  a  closer  connec- 
tion, |  one  belief  that  the  only  opportunity  for  its  crea- 
tion was  come.  Men,  who,  from  their  greater  attach- 
ment to  the  states,  feared  its  hazards,  neither  coveted 
nor  accepted  an  election  to  the  convention,  and  in 
uneasy  watchfulness  awaited  the  course  of  events. 
Willie  Jones  of  North  Carolina,  declining  to  serve, 
was  replaced  by  Hugh  Williamson,  who  had  voted 
with  Jefferson  for  excluding  slavery  from  the  territo- 
ries. Patrick  Henry,  Thomas  Nelson,  and  Richard 
Henry  Lee  refusing  to  be  delegates,  Edmund  Ran- 
dolph, then  governor  of  Virginia  and  himself  a  dele- 
gate to  the  convention,  named  to  one  vacancy  James 


4  THE   FEDERAL    COlSrVEKTION. 

CHAP.  McClurg,  a  professor  in  tlie  college  of  William  and 
Maiy,  whom  Madison  had  urged  upon  congress  for  the 
office  of  secretary  of  foreign  affairs.  No  state  except 
New  York  sent  a  delectation  insensible  to  the  neces- 
sity  of  a  vigorous  union.  Discordant  passions  were 
•  repressed  by  the  solemnity  of  the  moment ;  and,  as 
the  statesmen  who  were  to  create  a  new  constitution, 
veterans  in  the  war  and  in  the  halls  of  legislation, 
journeyed  for  the  most  part  on  horseback  to  theii' 
place  of  meeting,  the  high-wi'ought  hopes  of  the  na- 
tion went  along  with  them.  Nor  did  they  deserve 
the  interest  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  alone ; 
they  felt  the  ennobling  love  for  their  fellow-men,  and 
knew  themselves  to  be  forerunners  of  reform  for  the 
civilized  world. 

George  Washington  was  met  at  Chester  by  public 
honors.  From  the  Schmdkill  the  city  light  horse  es- 
corted him  into  Philadelphia,  the  bells  chiming  all 
the  while.  His  iirst  act  was  to  wait  upon  Franklin, 
the  president  of  Pennsylvania. 
14.  On  the  fourteenth  of  May,  at  the  hour  appointed 

for  opening  the  federal  convention,  Virginia  and  Penn- 
sylvania, the  only  states  which  were  sufficiently  repre- 
sented, repaired  to  the  state-house,  and,  with  others 
as  they  gathered  in,  continued  to  do  so,  adjourn- 
ing from  day  to  day.  Of  deputies,  the  credentials 
of  Connecticut  and  Maryland  required  but  one  to 
represent  the  state ;  of  New  York,  South  Carolina, 
and  Georgia,  two;  of  Massachusetts,  New  Jersey, 
Delaware,  Virginia,  and  North  Carolina,  three ;  of 
Pennsylvania,  four.  Tlie  delay  was  turned  to  the 
best  account  by  James  Madison  of  Virginia.     From 


THE    CONSTITUTIOlSr   IN    OUTLESTE.  5 

tlie  completion  of  the  Virginia  delegation  by  tlie  ar-  chap. 
rival  of  George  Mason,  who  came  with  unselfish  zeal  v^-^ 
to  do  his  part  in  fulfilling   "the  exj)ectations  and  i'?8  7. 
hopes  of  all  the  union,"  they  not  only  attended  the     14. 
general  session,  but  "  conferred  together  by  themselves 
two  or  three  hours  ev§ry  day  in  order  to  form  a 
proper  correspondence  of  sentiments."  *   As  their  state 
had  initiated  the  convention,  they  held  it  their  duty 
at  its  opening  to  propose  a  finished  plan  for  consider- 
ation. 

The  choice  lay  between  an  amended  confederacy 
and  "  the  new  constitution  " '  for  which  Washin2:ton 
foiu'  years  before  had  pleaded  with  the  people  of 
every  state.  "  My  wish  is,"  so  he  had  wi'itten  to  Mad-  14-24. 
ison,  "  that  the  convention  may  adopt  no  temporizing 
expedients,  but  probe  the  defects  of  the  constitution 
to  the  bottom  and  provide  a  radical  cure,  whether 
agreed  to  or  not.  A  conduct  of  this  kind  will  stamp 
wisdom  and  dignity  on  their  proceedings,  and  hold 
up  a  light  which  sooner  or  later  will  have  its  influ- 
ence. 

We  know  from  Randolph  himself  that  before  de- 
parting for  the  convention  he  was  disposed  to  do  no 
more  than  amend  the  confederation ;  and  his  decision 
was  likely  to  have  great  weight  in  the  councils  of  his 
own  commonwealth.  When  his  royalist  father,  at- 
torney-general of  Virginia,  took  refuge  with  the  Eng- 
lish, the  son  cleaved  to  his  native  land.  At  his  own 
request  and  the  solicitation  of  Richard  Henry  Lee, 
Washino-ton  received  him  as  an  aid  durino;  the  sie2;e 

'  George  Mason  to  his  son,  Phil-         '  Washington    to    Lafayette,    5 
adelphia,  May  20.     MS.  April,  1783.     Sparks,  viii.  412. 

'  Sparks,  ix.  250,  March  31,  1787. 


6  THE    FEDERAL    CONVENTION. 

of  Boston.  In  1776  lie  took  a  part  in  the  convention 
for  forming  tlie  constitution  of  Vii'ginia ;  and  the  con- 
vention rewarded  his  patriotism  by  electing  him  at 
twenty-three  years  of  age  attorney-general  of  Virginia 
in  the  place  of  his  father.  In  1779  he  preceded  Madi- 
son by  a  year  as  a  delegate  to  congress.  In  the  effort 
for  the  reform  of  the  confederation,  he,  with  Ellsworth 
of  Connecticut  and  Varnum  of  Rhode  Island  for  his 
associates,  was  the  chaii^man  of  the  committee  ap- 
pointed to  report  on  the  defects  of  the  confederacy 
and  the  new  powers  necessary  for  its  efficiency.  In 
1786  he  was  elected  governor  of  Virginia;  and  now 
in  his  thirty -fourth  year  he  was  sent  to  the  conven- 
tion, bringing  with  him  a  reputation  for  ability  equal 
to  his  high  position,  and  in  the  race  for  public  honors 
taking  the  lead  of  Monroe.  But  with  all  his  merit 
there  was  a  strain  of  weakness  in  his  character,  so 
that  he  was  like  a  soft  metal  which  needs  to  be  held 
in  place  by  coils  of  a  harder  grain  than  its  own.  That 
support  he  found  in  Madison,  who  had  urged  him  to 
act  a  foremost  part  in  the  convention,  and  had  laid 
before  him  the  principles  on  which  the  new  govern- 
ment should  be  organized ;  and  in  Washington,  who 
was  unceasing  in  his  monitions  and  encouragement. 
Randolph,  on  his  arrival  in  Philadelphia,  at  once 
yielded  to  tlieir  influence,  and  with  them  became  per- 
suaded that  the  confederacy  was  destitute  of  every 
energy  which  a  constitution  of  the  United  States 
ought  to  possess.' 

The  result  was  harmony  among  the  Virginia  dele- 
gates.    A  plan  for  a  national  government,  Avhich  em- 

>  IlandoliJh  to  Speaker,  10  Oct.,  1787. 


TIIE    CONSTITUTION   IN    OUTLINE.  7 

bodied  the  thoughts  of  Madison,  altered  and  amended  chap. 

by  their  joint  consultations,  was  agreed  to  by  them  ^-.^ 

all.  To  Randolph,  as  the  official  representative  of  the  ^  J^  '^• 
state,  was  unanimously  assigned  the  office  of  bringing  14-24. 
forward  the  outline  which  was  to  be  known  as  the 
plan  of  Virginia.  This  forethought  j)rovided  in  sea- 
son a  chart  for  the  voyage,  so  that  the  ship,  skilfully 
ballasted  and  trimmed  from  the  beginning,  could  be 
steered  through  perilous  channels  to  the  wished-for 
haven. 

A  government  founded  directly  on  the  people 
seemed  to  justify  and  require  a  distribution  of  suf- 
frao;e  in  the  national  leorislature  accordino*  to  some 
equitable  ratio.  Gouverneur  Morris  and  other  mem- 
bers from  Pennsylvania  in  conversation  urged  the 
large  states  to  unite  from  the  first  in  refusing  to  the 
smaller  states  in  the  federal  convention  the  equal 
vote  which  they  enjoyed  in  the  congress  of  the  con- 
federacy ;  but  the  Virginians,  while  as  the  largest 
state  in  extent  and  in  numbers  they  claimed  a  pro- 
portioned legislative  suffrage  as  an  essential  right 
which  must  be  asserted  and  allowed,  stifled  the  pro- 
ject, being  of  the  opinion  that  the  small  states  Avould 
be  more  willing  to  renounce  this  unequal  privilege  in 
return  for  an  efficient  government,  than  to  disarm 
themselves  before  the  battle  without  an  equivalent.* 

On  the  seventeenth,  South  Carolina  appeared  on  the 
floor ;  on  the  eighteenth,  New  York ;  on  the  twenty- 
first,  Delaware;  on  the  twenty-second.  North  Caro- 
lina.    Of  the  delegates,  some  were  for  half-way  meas- 

^  Madison  Papers,  edited  by  Gilpin,  726.      Stereotyped  reprint  of 
Elliot,  135. 


8  THE   FEDERAL    CONVENTION. 

CHAP,  ures  fi'om  fear  of  displeasing  tlie  people ;  others  were 
anxious  and  doubting.  Just  before  tliere  were  enough 
to  form  a  quorum,  Washington,  standing  self-collected 
in  the  midst  of  them,  his  countenance  more  than  usu- 
ally solemn,  his  eye  seeming  to  look  into  f utuiity,  said : 
"  It  is  too  probable  that  no  plan  we  proj)Ose  will  be 
adopted.  Perhaps  another  di'eadf  ul  conflict  is  to  be 
sustained.  If,  to  please  the  people,  we  offer  what  we 
ourselves  disapprove,  how  can  we  afterward  defend 
our  work  ?  Let  us  raise  a  standard  to  which  the  wise 
and  the  honest  can  repair ;  the  event  is  in  the  hand 
of  God."  ^ 

25.  On  the  twenty-fifth,  New  Jersey,  last  of  the  seven 
states  needed  to  form  a  house,  was  represented  by 
William  Churchill  Houston,  who  had  been  detained 
by  illness,  and  was  too  weak  to  remain  long.  There 
were  from  the  South  four  states,  fi'om  the  North, 
three ;  from  the  South,  nineteen  members,  from  the 
North,  ten.  At  the  desii'e  of  Benjamin  Franklin  of 
Pennsylvania,  Washington  was  unanimously  elected 
president  of  the  convention.  During  the  organiza- 
tion it  was  noticed  that  the  delegates  from  Delaware 
were  prohibited  fi-om  changing  the  article  in  the  con- 
federation establishing  the  equality  of  votes  among 
the  states.* 

28.  On  the  twenty-eighth,  the  representation  was  in- 
creased to  nine  states  by  the  arrival  of  Massachusetts 
and  Maryland.  A  letter  was  read  fi'om  men  of  Provi- 
dence, Rliode  Island,  among  them  John  Brown,  Jabez 
Bowen,  Welcome  Arnold,  and  William  Barton,  ex- 

^Oration  l)y  Oouvornfiir  Morris  Av;ia  in  ^Iny,  1787,  present  in  Pliila- 
npon  tli(!  death  of  VVnsliintfton,  delpliin,  mid  wasol"  tlie  Cfmventiou. 
Dec.  31,  IIW),  pp.  20,  21.     Morris         "■'  Uilpiu,  723;  Elliot,  124. 


THE   CONSTITUTIO]!^   ES^    OUTLESTE.  9 

plaining  wliy  tlieii'  state  wonld  send  no  delegates  to  chap. 

the  convention,  and  hopefully  pledging  their  best  ex-  .__; 

ertions  to  effect  the  ratification  of  its  proceedino-s/  iV8  7. 
The  letter  was  forwarded  and  supported  by  Varnum,     28i 
a  member  from  Khode  Island  in  con2:ress. 

The  delegates  from  Maryland,  chosen  at  a  time 
when  the  best  men  of  the  state  were  absorbed  in 
a  domestic  struggle  against  neAV  issues  of  paper 
money,  and  its  senate  by  its  stubborn  resistance  was 
estranged  from  the  house,  did  not  adequately  repre- 
sent its  public  spirit ;  yet  the  majority  of  them  to  the 
last  promoted  the  national  union.  Of  the  iifty-iive 
in  the  convention,  nine  were  graduates  of  Princeton, 
four  of  Yale,  three  of  Harvard,  two  of  Columbia, 
one  of  Pennsylvania;  five,  six,  or  seven  had  been 
connected  with  William  and  JMary's ;  Scotland  sent 
one  of  her  sons,  a  jurist,  who  had  been  taught  at 
three  of  her  universities,  and  Glasgow  had  assisted 
to  train  another ;  one  had  been  a  student  in  Christ 
Church,  Oxford,  and  he  and  three  others  had  been 
students  of  law  in  the  Temple.  To  many  in  the  as- 
sembly the  work  of  the  great  French  magistrate  on 
the  "  Spirit  of  Laws,"  of  which  Washington  with  his 
o^Mi  hand  had  copied  an  abstract  by  Madison,  was 
the  favorite  manual;  some  of  them  had  made  an 
analysis  of  all  federal  governments  in  ancient  and 
modern  times,  and  a  few  were  well  versed  in  the  best 
English,  Swiss,  and  Dutch  ^viiters  on  government. 
They  had  immediately  before  them  the  example  of 
Great  Britain ;  and  they  had  a  still  better  school  of 
political  wisdom  in  the  republican  constitutions  of 

*  Gilpin,  727;  Elliot,  125,  and  Appendix  No.  1. 


29. 


10  THE   FEDEEAL    COlSTYENTIOlSr. 

CHAP,  their  several  states,  wliicli  many  of  tliem  had  assisted 
to  frame.  Altogether  they  formed  "  the  goodliest 
fellowship  of  "  lawgivers  "  whereof  this  world  holds 
record."  In  theii'  standing  rules  they  unanimously 
forbade  any  registry  to  be  made  of  the  votes  of  indi- 
viduals, so  that  they  might,  without  reproach  or  ob- 
servation, mutually  receive  and  impart  instruction ; 
and  they  sat  with  closed  doors,  lest  the  publication  of 
their  debates  should  rouse  the  country  to  obstinate 
conflicts  before  they  themselves  should  have  reached 
their  conclusions. 

On  the  twenty-ninth,  the  governor  of  Virginia 
opened  the  business  of  the  convention  in  this  wise : 
"  To  prevent  the  fulfilment  of  the  j)rophecies  of  the 
do^\Tifall  of  the  United  States,  it  is  our  duty  to  in- 
quii*e  into  the  defects  of  the  confederation  and  the 
requisite  projoerties  of  the  government  now  to  be 
framed ;  the  danger  of  the  situation  and  its  remedy. 

"  The  confederation  w^as  made  in  the  infancy  of  the 
science  of  constitutions,  when  the  inefficiency  of  re- 
quisitions was  unknown;  when  no  commercial  dis- 
cord had  arisen  among  states ;  when  no  rebellion  like 
that  in  Massachusetts  liad  broken  out ;  when  foreign 
debts  were  not  urgent ;  when  the  havoc  of  paper 
money  had  not  been  foreseen ;  when  treaties  had  not 
been  violated  ;  and  w^hen  nothing  better  could  have 
been  conceded  by  states  jealous  of  their  sovereignty. 
But  it  offered  no  security  against  foreign  invasion, 
for  congress  could  neither  prevent  nor  conduct  sl  war, 
nor  punish  infractions  of  treaties  or  of  the  law  of  na- 
tions, nor  control  particular  states  from  provoking 
war.     The  federal  government  has  no  constitutional 


THE    COT^STITUTIOIS"   IN    OUTLDfE.  11 

power  to  clieck  a  quarrel  between  separate  states ;  nor  chap. 
to  suppress  a  rebellion  in  any  one  of  tliem ;  nor  to  es-  ^^^^^ 
tablish  a  productive  impost ;  nor  to  counteract  tlie  ^  ^^  '^• 
commercial  regulations  of  otLer  nations ;  nor  to  defend     29. 
itself  asrainst  encroachments  of  tlie  states.     From  tlie 
manner  in  whicli  it  has  been  ratified  in  many  of  the 
states,  it  cannot  be  claimed  to  be  paramount  to  the 
state  constitutions ;  so  that  there  is  a  prospect  of  an- 
archy from  the  inherent  laxity  of  the  government. 
As  the  remedy,  the  government  to  be  established 
must  have  for  its  basis  the  republican  principle." 

He  then  proposed  fifteen  resolutions,  which  he  ex- 
plained one  by  one. 

"  The  articles  of  confederation  ouo-ht  to  be  so  cor- 
rected  and  enlarged  as  to  accomplish  the  objects  pro- 
posed by  their  institution ;  namely, '  common  defence, 
security  of  liberty,  and  general  weKare.' 

"  The  rights  of  suffrage  in  the  national  legislature 
ought  to  be  proportioned  to  the  quotas  of  contribu- 
tion, or  to  the  number  of  free  inhabitants. 

"  The  national  legislature  ought  to  consist  of  two 
branches,  of  which  the  members  of  the  fu'st  or  demo- 
cratic house  ought  to  be  elected  by  the  people  of  the 
several  states  ;  of  the  second,  by  those  of  the  first,  out 
of  persons  nominated  by  the  individual  legislatures. 

"The  national  legislature,  of  which  each  branch 
ought  to  possess  the  right  of  originating  acts,  ought 
to  enjoy  the  legislative  rights  vested  in  congress  by 
the  confederation,  and  moreover  to  legislate  in  all 
cases  to  which  the  separate  states  are  incompetent,  or 
in  which  the  harmony  of  the  United  States  might  be 
interrupted  by  the  exercise  of  individual  legislation ; 


12  THE    FEDEEAL    CONVENTION. 

CHAP,  to  negative  all  laws  passed  by  tlie  several  states  eon- 

; travelling  the  articles  of  union ;  and  to  call  forth  the 

17  8  7.  force  of  the  union  aa:ainst  any  member  of  the  union 

May  .  .  .  ^  -^ 

29.     failing  to  fulfil  its  duty  under  the  articles  thereof. 

"  A  national  executive,  chosen  by  the  national  legis- 
lature and  ineligible  a  second  time,  ought  to  enjoy  the 
executive  rights  vested  in  congress  by  the  confedera- 
tion, and  a  general  authority  to  execute  the  national 
laws. 

"The  executive  and  a  convenient  number  of  the 
national  judiciary  ought  to  compose  a  council  of  re- 
vision, with  authority  to  examine  every  act  of  the 
national  legislature  before  it  shall  operate. 

"  A  national  judiciary  ought  to  be  established ;  to 
consist  of  supreme  and  inferior  tribunals ;  to  be  chosen 
by  the  national  legislature  ;  to  hold  their  offices  dur- 
ing good  behavior,  with  jurisdiction  to  hear  and  de- 
termine all  piracies  and  felonies  on  the  high  seas ; 
captures  from  an  enemy;  cases  in  which  foreigners 
and  citizens,  a  citizen  of  one  state  and  a  citizen  of  an- 
other state,  may  be  interested ;  cases  which  respect 
the  collection  of  the  national  revenue  ;  impeachments 
of  national  officers  ;  and  questions  which  may  involve 
the  national  peace  and  harmony. 

"  Provision  outifht  to  be  made  for  tlie  admission  of 
states  lawfully  ai'ising  within  the  limits  of  the  United 
States. 

"A  republican  government  and  the  territory  of 
each  state  ought  to  be  guaranteed  l)y  tlie  United 
States  to  each  state. 

"  Pi'ovision  ought  to  be  made  for  the  completion  of 
'       all  the  engagements  of  congress,  and  for  its  continu- 


THE   CONSTITUTION    IN    OUTLINE.  13 

ance  until  after  tlie  articles  of  union  shall  liave  been  chap. 

adopted.  v^^^ 

"  Provision  oufrlit  to  be  made  for  tlie  amendment  i  '^  s  7. 

.  .  May 

of  tlie  articles  of  union ;  to  wliich  tlie  assent  of  tlie     29. 
national  legislature  ought  not  to  be  required. 

"The  legislative,  executive,  and  judiciary  powers, 
within  the  several  states,  ought  to  be  bound  by  oath 
to  support  the  articles  of  union. 

"The  amendments  which  shall  be  offered  to  the 
confederation  by  the  convention  ought,  after  the  ap- 
probation of  congress,  to  be  submitted  to  assemblies 
of  representatives,  recommended  by  the  several  legis- 
latures to  be  expressly  chosen  by  the  people  to  con- 
sider and  decide  thereon." 

Randolph  concluded  with  an  exhortation  to  the 
convention  not  to  suffer  the  present  opportunity  of 
establishing  general  harmony,  happiness,  and  liberty 
in  the  United  States  to  pass  away  unimproved.* 

The  new  articles  of  union  would  form  a  representa- 
tive republic.  The  nobleness  of  the  Virginia  dele- 
gation appeared  in  the  offer  of  an  option  to  found 
representation  on  "  free  inhabitants  "  alone.  The  pro- 
posed government  would  be  truly  national.  Not  the 
executive,  not  the  Judges,  not  one  officer  employed 
by  the  national  government,  not  members  of  the  first 
branch  of  the  legislature,  would  owe  theii'  election  to 
the  states ;  even  in  the  choice  of  the  second  branch 
of  the  national  legislature,  the  states  were  only  to 
nominate  candidates. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that,  as  Randolph  declared  the 
proportioned  nile  of  suffrage  to  be  "  the  basis  upon 

*  Gilpin,  731-735;  Elliot,  126-128. 


14  THE   FEDEEAL    CONVENTIOlSr. 

CHAP,  wliich  tlie  larger  states  could  assent  to  any  reform," 
-^.^-^  saying,  "  AVe  ouglit  to  be  one  nation,"  William  Pater- 
1  '[^  '^-  son  of  New  Jersey  made  note  tliat  "  sovereignty  is  an 
"9.  integral  tiling,"  meaning  that  in  the  new  union  the 
states  must  be  equal  unless  they  all  were  to  be  merged 
into  one/  The  house  referred  the  propositions  of 
Vii'O'inia  to  a  committee  of  the  whole  on  the  state  of 
the  union."  Charles  Pinckney  of  South  Carolina,  a 
young  man  of  twenty-nine,  then  presented  a  plan  for 
a  constitution,  "  grounded  on  the  same  principles  ^  as 
the  resolutions "  of  Viro;inia.  It  received  the  same 
reference,  but  no  part  of  it  was  used,  and  no  copy  of 
it  has  been  preserved. 
30.  On  the  mornins:  of  the  thirtieth,  Nathaniel  Gorham 
of  Massachusetts  having  been  elected  chairman  of  the 
committee  of  the  whole,  Randolph  offered  a  resolu- 
tion,* wdiich  Gouverneur  Morris  had  formulated,  "  that 
a  national  government  ought  to  be  established,  con- 
sisting of  a  supreme  legislative,  executive,  and  judi- 
ciary." The  force  of  the  word  "  supreme "  was  ex- 
plained to  be,  that,  should  the  powers  to  be  granted 
to  the  new  government  clash  with  the  powers  of  the 
states,  the  states  were  to  yield.* 

Pierce  Butler  of  South  Carolina'  advanced  the 
business  of  the  day  by  saying  in  the  spirit  of  Mon- 
tesquieu :  "  Heretofore  I  have  opposed  the  grant  of 
new  powers  to  congress  because  they  would  all  be 
vested  in  one  body ;  the  distribution  of  the  powers 
among  different  ]K)dieB  will  induce' me  to  go  great 
lengths  in  its  support." 

'  PatcTMon  MSS.  *  TJilpin,  7^17;  Elliot,  132. 

»  Cilpin,  7:5~);  Elliot,  128.  "  Y:i(cs  in  Klliot,  i.  .'?02. 

»  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  a'Jl.  •  Gilpin,  747,  748;  Elliot,  133. 


THE    CONSTITUTIOlSr    EST    OUTLLNE.  15 

"In   all   communities,"   said    Gouvemeur   Morris,  chap. 
"  there  must  be  one  supreme  power  and  one  only.    A  v,--^ 
confederacy  is  a  mere  compact,  resting  on  the  good  ^^j^*^- 
faith  of  the  parties ;  a  national,  supreme  government     so. 
must  have  a  complete  and  compulsive   operation." 
Mason  argued  "  very  cogently  " :  "  In  the  nature  of 
things  punishment  cannot  be  executed  on  the  states 
collectively;  therefore  such  a  government  is  neces- 
sary as  can  operate  directly  on  individuals."  * 

Roger  Sherman,  who  arrived  that  morning  and  en- 
abled Connecticut  to  vote,  was  not  yet  ready  to  do 
more  than  vest  in  the  general  government  a  power  to 
raise  its  o^vn  revenue ; '  and  against  the  negative  of 
his  state  alone,  New  York  being  divided,  the  motion 
was  carried  by  Massachusetts,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia, 
and  the  two  Carolinas,  on  this  day  aided  by  Delaware. 

Alexander  Hamilton  of  New  York  next  moved 
that  "the  rights  of  suffrage  in  the  national  legisla- 
ture ought  to  be  proportioned  to  the  number  of  free 
inhabitants ; " '  and  Richard  Dobbs  Spaight  of  North 
Carolina  seconded  him.  But,  to  escape  irritating  de- 
bates, the  resolution  was  postponed,  and  Madison, 
supported  by  Gouverneur  Morris,  moved  in  more 
general  terms,  "that  the  equality  of  suffrage  estab- 
lished by  the  articles  of  confederation  ought  not  to 
prevail  in  the  national  legislature ;  and  that  an  equit- 
able ratio  of  representation  ought  to  be  substituted."  * 

Faithful  to  his  instructions,  George  Read  of  Dela- 
ware asked  that  the  consideration  of  the  clause  might 
be  postponed ;  as  on  any  change  of  the  rule  of  suf- 

'  Gilpin,  748;  Elliot,  133.  "  Journal,  Elliot,  i.  151. 

'  Gilpin,  748;  Elliot  133.  *  Gilpin,  751;  Elliot,  134. 


16  TnE    FEDEEAL    CONVENTION". 

CHAP,  frage  it  niiglit  become  tlie  duty  of  the  dej)uties  from 
^ liis  state  to  withdraw  from  the  convention.'  "  Equal- 
ity of  suffrage,"  said  Madison,  "  may  be  reasonable  in 
a  federal  union  of  sovereign  states ;  it  can  find  no 
place  in  a  national  government." '  But,  from  the  spirit 
of  conciliation,  the  request  for  delay  was  granted. 
31.  The  next  day  Georgia  gained  the  right  to  vote  by 
the  arrival  of  William  Pierce,  a  Virginian  by  bii'th, 
in  the  war  an  aid  to  Greene,  and  now  a  member  of 
conixress.  The  Vir2:inia  resolve,  that  the  national 
legislature  should  be  composed  of  two  branches, 
passed  without  debate,  and,  but  for  Pennsylvania, 
unanimously ;  Plamilton  and  Robert  Yates  of  New 
York  voting  together." '  Three  weeks  later,  Pennsyl- 
vania, which  had  hesitated  only  out  of  forbearance 
toward  its  own  constitution,  gave  in  its  adhesion. 
The  decision,  which  was  in  harmony  with  the  undis- 
puted and  unchanging  conviction  of  the  whole  people 
of  the  United  States,  was  adopted,  partly  to  check 
haste  in  legislation  by  reciprocal  watchfulness,  and 
partly  to  prevent  the  fatal  conflict  w^hich  might  one 
day  take  place  between  a  single  legislative  body  and 
a  sincrle  executive. 

On  the  method  of  electing  the  two  branches,  the 
upholders  of  the  sovereignty  of  each  state  contended 
that  the  national  government  ought  to  seek  its  agents 
through  tlie  governments  of  the  respective  states ; 
others  preferred  that  the  members  of  the  first  branch 
should  be  chosen  directly  by  the  people. 

"  The  people,"  said  Sherman,*  "  should  have  as  little 

>  (Jilpin,  751;  Elliot,  134.  "  Gilpin,  753;  Elliot,  135. 

"•'  Gil])jii,  753;  Elliot,  135.  *  Gilpiu,  753;  Elliot,  135. 


THE   CONSTITUTION   IN    OUTLINE.  17 

to  do  as  may  be  about  tlie  government ;  tliey  want  chap. 
infoiTnation  and  are  constantly  liable  to  be  misled ;  .^^^.^ 
the  election  oucrlit  to  be  by  tlie  state  lesrislatures."  i  v  s  7. 

o  -^  .  ^  May 

"  The  people  do  not  want  virtue ;  but  tliey  are  the  31. 
dupes  of  pretended  patriots,"  added  Elbridge  Gerry 
of  Massachusetts/  To  this  arraignment  of  the  people 
by  men  of  New  England,  Mason  of  Virginia  replied : 
"  The  larger  branch  is  to  be  the  grand  depository  of 
the  democratic  principle  of  the  government.  We 
ought  to  attend  to  the  rights  of  eveiy  class  of  the 
people.  I  have  often  wondered  at  the  indifference 
of  the  superior  classes  of  society  to  this  dictate  of 
humanity  and  policy."  *  "  "Without  the  confidence  of 
the  people,"  said  James  Wilson  of  Pennsylvania,  "no 
government,  least  of  all  a  republican  government, 
can  long  subsist ;  nor  ought  the  weight  of  the  state 
legislatures  to  be  increased  by  making  them  the  elec- 
tors of  the  national  legislature." '  Madison,  though 
for  the  senate,  the  executive,  and  the  judiciary  he 
approved  of  refining  popular  appointments  by  succes- 
sive "  filtrations," '  held  the  popular  election  of  one 
branch  of  the  national  legislature  indispensable  to 
every  plan  of  free  government.  This  opinion  pre- 
vailed. 

It  was  agreed  unanimously  and  without  debate, 
that  the  national  legislature  should  possess  the  legis- 
lative powers  of  the  confederacy ;  but,  to  the  exten- 
sion of  them  to  all  cases  to  which  the  state  le^-islatures 
were  individually  incompetent,  Charles  Pinckney, 
John  Rutledge,  and  Butler,  all  the  three  of  South. 

^  Gilpin,  753;  Elliot,  136.  "  Gilpin,  755;  Elliot,  136. 

«  Gilpin,  754;  Elliot,  136.  *  Gilpin,  756;  Elliot,  137.. 

VOL.  II.  2 


18  THE   FEDEEAL    CONVENTION. 

CHAP.  Carolina,  objected  tliat  tlie  vagueness  of  tlie  lan- 
guage might  imperil  tlie  powers  of  tlie  states.  But 
Randolj^li  disclaimed  tlie  intention  of  giving  indefi- 
nite powers  to  the  national  legislature,  and  declared 
himself  unalterably  opposed  to  such  an  inroad  on  the 
state  jurisdictions.  Madison  was  strongly  biased  in 
favor  of  enumerating  and  defining  the  powers  to  be 
granted,  although  he  could  not  suppress  doubts  of  its 
practicability.  "But,"  said  he,  "a  form  of  govern- 
ment that  will  provide  for  the  liberty  and  happiness 
of  the  community  being  the  end  of  our  deliberations, 
all  the  necessary  means  for  attaining  it  must,  how- 
ever reluctantly,  be  submitted  to." '  The  clause  was 
adopted  by  nine  states,  including  New  York  and 
New  Jersey.  Oliver  Ellsworth,  voting  against  Sher- 
man, divided  Connecticut. 

The  clauses  in  the  Virginia  plan,  giving  to  the 
national  legislature  the  powers  necessary  to  preserve 
harmony  among  the  states,  to  negative  all  state  laws 
contravening,  in  the  opinion  of  the  national  legis- 
lature, the  articles  of  union,  or,  as  Benjamin  Franklin 
of  Pennsylvania  added,  "contravening  treaties  sub- 
sisting under  tlie  authority  of  the  union,"  were  agreed 
to  without  debate  or  dissent. 

Madison  struorc^led  to  confer  on  the  national  leojis- 
lature  the  right  to  negative  at  its  discretion  any  state 
law  whatever,  being  of  tlie  opinion  that  a  negative  of 
which  the  lightfulness  was  unquestioned  would  strip 
a  local  law  of  every  pretence  to  the  character  of  legal- 

junc    ity,  and  thus  su2~>press  resistance  at  its  inception.    On 
another  day,  explaining   his   motives,  he  said :  "  A 

'Gilpin,  700;  Elliot,  139. 


THE    CONSTITUTION    IN    OUTLINE.  19 

negative  on  state  laws  is  the  mildest  expedient  that  chap. 
can  be  devised  for  enforcing  a  national  decree.   Should  ^^^ 
no  such  precaution  be  engrafted,  the  only  remedy  i  "^  §  '^• 
would  be  coercion.     The  negative  would  render  the      s. 
use  of  force  unnecessary.    In  a  word,  this  prerogative 
of   the  general  government  is  the  great  pervading 
principle  that  must  control  the  centrifugal  tendency 
of  the  states,  which,  without  it,  will  continually  fly 
out  of  their  proper  orbits,  and  destroy  the  order  and 
harmony  of  the  political  system."  *     But  the  conven- 
tion refused  to  adopt  his  counsel. 

Lastly :  the  Virginia  plan  authorized  the  exertion  May 
of  the  force  of  the  whole  against  a  delinquent  state. 
Madison,  accepting  the  argument  of  Mason,  expressed 
a  doubt  of  the  practicability,  the  justice,  and  the 
equity  of  applying  force  to  a  collective  people.  "  To 
use  force  against  a  state,"  he  said,  "is  more  like  a 
declaration  of  war  than  an  infliction  of  punishment, 
and  would  be  considered,  by  the  party  attacked,  a 
dissolution  of  all  previous  contracts.  I  therefore 
hope  that  a  national  system,  with  full  power  to  deal 
directly  with  individuals,  will  be  framed,  and  the 
resource  be  thus  rendered  unnecessary."  The  clause 
was  postponed.'' 

In  this  wise  and  in  one  day  the  powers  of  the  legis- 
lature which  was  to  be  the  centre  of  the  government 
were  with  common  consent  established  in  their  out- 
lines. On  points  essential  to  union,  Yates  and  Ham- 
ilton, New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  voted  together. 
On  the  first  day  of  June  the  convention  took  into  J«ne 
consideration  the  national  executive.  The  same  spirit 
»  GUpin,  832,  833;  Elliot,  171.  »  Gilpin,  761;  ElUot,  140. 


20  THE   FEDERAL    COETENTION. 

CHAP,  of  conciliation  prevailed,  but  witli  a  chaos  of  ideas 
and  a  sliyness  in  the  members  to  declare  their  minds. 

Should  the  national  executive  be  one  or  many  ? — a 
question  v^hich,  from  a  difference  among  themselves, 
the  plan  of  the  Vii'ginia  delegates  had  left  unde- 
cided. Should  it  be  chosen  directly  by  the  people  ? 
or  by  electors  ?  or  by  state  legislatures  ?  or  by  the 
executives  of  the  states?  or  by  one  branch  of  the 
national  legislature  ?  or  by  both  branches  ?  And,  if 
by  both,  by  joint  or  concurrent  ballot?  or  by  lot? 
How  long  should  be  its  term  of  service  ?  And  how 
far  should  its  re-eligibility  be  limited?  Should  it 
have  the  sole  power  of  peace  and  war  ?  Should  it 
have  an  absolute  or  a  qualified  veto  on  acts  of  legis- 
lation, or  none  at  all  ?  Should  its  powers  be  exercised 
with  or  without  a  council  ?  Should  it  be  liable  to  re- 
moval by  the  legislatures  of  the  states,  or  by  the  na- 
tional legislature  ?  or  by  the  joint  action  of  both  ?  or 
by  impeachment  alone  ? 

Here  the  convention  marched  and  countermarched 
for  want  of  guides.  Progress  began  to  be  made  on 
the  ascertainment  that  the  members  inclined  to 
withhold  from  the  executive  the  power  over  war  and 
peace.  This  being  understood,  AVilson  and  Charles 
Pinckney  proposed  that  the  national  executive  should 
consist  of  a  single  person.  A  long  silence  prevailed, 
broken  at  last  by  tlie  chairman  asking  if  he  should 
l)ut  the  question.  Franklin  entreated  the  members 
first  to  deliver  their  sentiments  on  a,  point  of  so  great 
impoi-tance.  Putledge  joined  in  the  re(|uest,  and  for 
himself  supported    Pinckney   and  Wilson.     On  the 

'Gilpin,  703;  Elliot,  140. 


THE    CONSTITUTION   EST    OUTLINE.  21 

otlier  hand,  Slierman,  controlled  by  the  precedents  of  chap. 
the  confederacy  which  appointed  and  displaced  exec-  .— ,1^ 
utive  officers  just  as  it  seemed  to  them  fit,  replied ;  ^  ^  ®  '^• 
"  The  legislature  are  the  best  judges  of  the  business      i. 
to  be  done  by  the  executive,  and  should  be  at  liberty 
from  time  to  time  to  appoint  one  or  more,  as  experi- 
ence may  dictate."  * 

"  I  do  not  mean  to  throw  censure  on  that  excellent 
fabric,  the  British  government,"  said  Randolph  ;  "  if 
we  were  in  a  situation  to  copy  it,  I  do  not  know  that 
I  should  be  opposed  to  it.  But  the  fixed  genius  of 
the  people  of  America  requires  a  different  form  of 
government.  The  requisites  for  the  executive  de- 
partment,— ^vigor,  despatch,  and  responsibility, — can 
be  found  in  three  men  as  well  as  in  one.  Unity  in 
the  executive  is  the  foetus  of  monarchy." '  "  Unity 
in  the  executive,"  retorted  Wilson,  "  will  rather  be  the 
best  safeguard  against  tyranny.  From  the  extent  of 
this  country,  nothing  but  a  great  confederated  republic 
will  do  for  it."  To  calm  the  excitement,  Madison  led 
the  convention,  before  choosing  between  unity  or  plu- 
rality in  the  executive,  to  fix  the  extent  of  its  author- 
ity ;  and  the  convention  agreed  to  clothe  it  "  with 
power  to  carry  into  effect  the  national  laws  and  to  ap- 
point to  offices  in  cases  not  otherwise  provided  for."  * 

On  the  mode  of  appointing  the  executive,  Wilson 
said :  "  Chimerical  as  it  may  appear  in  theor}^,  I  am 
for  an  election  by  the  people.  Experience  in  New 
York  and  Massachusetts  shows  that  an  election  of  the 
fii'st  magistrate  by  the  people  at  large  is  both  a  con- 

»  Gilpin,  763;  Elliot,  140.  »  Gilpin,  765;  Elliot,  141. 

*  Gilpin,  764;  ElUot,  141. 


22  THE    FEDERAL    CONVENTIOI^. 

venient  and  a  successful  mode.  Tlie  objects  of  choice 
in  sucli  cases  must  be  persons  wliose  merits  Lave  gen- 
eral notoriety."  "I,"  replied  Sherman,  ''am  for  its 
appointment  b}^  the  national  legislature,  and  for  mak- 
ing it  absolutely  dependent  on  that  body  whose  will 
it  is  to  execute.  An  independence  of  the  executive 
on  the  supreme  legislature  is  the  very  essence  of 
tyranny."  Sherman  and  Wilson  were  for  a  period  of 
office  of  three  years  and  "  against  the  doctrine  of  ro- 
tation, as  throwing  out  of  office  the  men  best  quali- 
fied to  execute  its  duties."  Mason  asked  for  seven 
years  at  least,  but  without  re-eligibility.  "What," 
inquired  Gunning  Bedford  of  Delaware,  "  will  be  the 
situation  of  the  country  should  the  fii'st  magistrate 
elected  for  seven  years  be  discovered  immediately  on 
trial  to  be  incompetent  ? "  He  argued  for  a  triennial 
election,  with  an  ineligibility  after  three  successive 
elections.  The  convention,  by  a  vote  of  five  and  a 
half  states  against  four  and  a  half,  decided  for  the 
period  of  seven  years ; '  and  by  at  least  seven  states 
against  Connecticut,  that  the  executive  should  not  be 
twice  eligible.' 

How  to  choose  the  executive  remained  the  per- 
plexing problem.  AVilson,  borrowing  an  idea  from 
the  constitution  of  Maryland,  proposed  that  electors 
chosen  in  districts  of  the  several  states  should  meet 
and  elect  the  executive  by  ballot,  but  not  fi'om  their 
own  body.'  He  deprecated  the  intervention  of  the 
states  in  its  choice.*  Mason  favored  the  idea  of  choos- 
ing the  executive  by  the  people;  Rutledge,  by  the 

"Gilpin,  707;  Elliot,   11:].  '  Gilpin,  70S;  Elliot,  143. 

•  Gilpm,  77U;  Elliot,  14U.  *  Gilpin,  707;  Elliot,  143. 


THE    COITSTITUTION   IN    OUTLESTE.  23 

national  senate/     Gerry  set  in  a  clear  liglit  tliat  tlie  cn.vp. 

election  by  the  national  legislature  would  keep  up  a  ^^', 

constant  intri2;ue  between  that  leo-islatui'e  and  the  i'?8  7. 

'^  .  ^      .  June 

candidates ;  nevertheless,  Wilson's  motion  was  at  that      2. 
time  supported  only  by  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland ; 
and,  from  sheer  uncertainty  what  else  to  do,  the  con- 
vention left  the  choice  of  the  executive  to  the  national 
legislature/ 

For  relief  from  a  bad  selection  of  the  executive, 
John  Dickinson  of  Delaware,  who  did  not  like  the 
plan  of  impeaching  the  great  officers  of  state,  pro- 
posed a  removal  on  the  request  of  a  majority  of  the 
lesfislatures  of  the  individual  states."    Sherman  would 

o 

give  that  power  to  the  national  legislature.  "The 
making  the  executive  the  mere  creatui'e  of  the  legis- 
lature," replied  Mason,  "  is  a  violation  of  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  good  government."  * 

"The  occasion  is  so  important,"  said  Dickinson, 
"  that  no  man  ought  to  be  silent  or  reserved.  A  limited 
monarchy  is  one  of  the  best  governments  in  the  world. 
Equal  blessings  have  never  yet  been  derived  from 
any  of  the  republican  forms.  But,  though  a  form  the 
most  perfect  perhaps  in  itself  be  unattainable,  we 
must  not  despair.  Of  remedies  for  the  diseases  of 
republics  which  have  flourished  for  a  moment  only 
and  then  vanished  forever,  one  is  the  double  branch 
of  the  legislature,  the  other  the  accidental  lucky  di- 
vision of  this  country  into  distinct  states,  which  some 
seem  desirous  to  abolish  altogether.  This  di\4sion 
ought  to  be  maintained,  and  considerable  powers  to 

»  Gilpin,  768;  Elliot,  143.  '  Gilpin,  776;  Elliot,  147. 

»  GUpin,  770;  Elliot,  144.  *  Gilpin,  776;  Elliot,  147. 


24  THE   FEDEEAL    CONVENTION. 

CHAP,  be  left  witli  tlie  states.  Tliis  is  the  ground  of  my 
-^-,1^  consolation  for  the  future  fate  of  my  country.  In 
ij^*^-  case  of  a  consolidation  of  tlie  states  into  one  srreat  re- 

June  .  ... 

2.  public,  we  may  read  its  fate  in  tlie  history  of  smaller 
ones.  "  The  point  of  representation  in  the  national 
legislature  of  states  of  different  sizes  must  end  in 
mutual  concession.  I  hope  that  each  state  will  retain 
an  equal  voice,  at  least  in  one  branch  of  the  national 
legislature."  * 

The  motion  of  Dickinson  was  sustained  only  by 
Delaware ;  and  the  executive  was  made  removable  on 
"  impeachment  and  conviction  of  malpractice  or  neg- 
lect of  duty."  °  But  the  advice  on  the  distribution 
of  suffrage  in  the  national  legislature  sank  deep  into 
the  minds  of  his  hearers. 

Randolph  pleaded  anew  for  an  executive  body  of 
three  members,  one  from  each  of  the  three  geographi- 
cal divisions  of  the  country.  "  That  would  lead  to  a 
constant  struggle  for  local  advantages,"  replied  But- 
ler, who  had  travelled  in  Holland ;  and  from  his  own 
observation  he  sketched  the  distraction  of  the  Low 
Countries  from  a  plurality  of  military  heads.'  "  Ex- 
4.  ecutive  questions,"  said  Wilson,  "have  many  sides; 
and  of  three  members  no  two  might  agree."  All  the 
thirteen  states  place  a  single  magistrate  at  the  head. 
Unity  in  the  executive  will  favor  the  tranquillity  not 
less  tlian  the  vigor  of  the  government."  *  Assenting 
to  unity  in  the  executive,  Sherman  tliought  a  council 
necessary  to  make  that  unity  acceptable  to  the  people. 
"A  council,"  replied  Wilson,  "oftener  covers  malprac- 

'  rjilpin,  778;  Elliot,  148.  "  Gilpin,  782;  Elliot,  150. 

'  (Jilpin,  779;  Elliot,  149.  '  Gilpin,  781;  Elliot,  150. 

•Gilpin,  780;  Elliot,  149. 


THE    CONSTITUTIOIC   IN    OUTLINE.  25 

tices  tlian  prevents  them." '    The  proposal  for  a  single  chap. 
executive  was  sustained  by  seven  states  against  New  ^^.'-^ 
York,  Delaware,  and  Maryland.    In  the  Virginia  dele-  ^  ^  ^  '• 
gation  there  would  have  been  a  tie  but  for  Washing-      4. 
ton.''     The  decision  was  reached  after  mature  deliber- 
ation, and  was  accepted  as  final. 

Wilson  and  Hamilton  desired  to  trust  the  executive 
with  an  absolute  negative  on  acts  of  legislation ;  but 
this  was  opposed,  though  from  widely  differing  mo- 
tives, by  Gerry,  Franklin,  Sherman,  Madison,  Butler, 
Bedford,  and  Mason,"  and  was  unanimously  negatived. 

When  Wilson  urged  upon  the  convention  the  Vir- 
ginia plan  of  vesting  a  limited  veto  on  legislation  in 
a  council  of  revision,  composed  of  the  executive  and 
a  convenient  number  of  the  judiciary,  Gerry  called 
to  mind  that  Judges  had  in  some  states,  and  with  gen- 
eral approbation,  set  aside  laws  as  being  against  the 
constitution ;  but  that  from  the  nature  of  their  office 
they  were  unfit  to  be  consulted  on  the  policy  of  pub- 
lic measures ;  and,  after  the  example  of  his  own  state, 
he  proposed  rather  to  confide  the  veto  power  to  the 
executive  alone,  subject  to  be  overruled  by  two  thirds 
of  each  branch.  "  Judges,"  said  Kuf  us  King  of  Massa- 
chusetts, ''  should  expound  the  law  as  it  may  come  be- 
fore them,  free  from  the  bias  of  having  participated 
in  its  formation."*  Gerry's  motion  was  carried  by 
eight  states  against  Connecticut  and  Maryland.* 

In  a  convention  composed  chiefly  of  lawyers,  the 
organization  of  the  judiciary  engaged  eager  attention ; 
at  the  close  of  a  long  sitting,  the  Virginia  resolution, 

»  Gilpin,  783;  Elliot,  151.  *  Gilpin,  783;  Elliot,  151. 

""  Gilpin,  783 ;  Elliot,  151.  "  Gilpin,  790,  791 ;  Elliot,  155. 

»  Gilpin,  784-787 ;  Elliot.  151-154. 


26  THE   FEDERAL    COinTENTIOIT. 

CHAP,  tliat  a  national  judiciary  be  establislied,  passed  witli- 
out  debate  and  unanimously,  witli  a  further  clause 
tbat  tlie  national  judiciary  should  consist  of  one  su- 
preme tribunal  and  of  one  or  more  inferior  tribunals.' 
A  night's  reflection  developed  a  jealousy  of  trans- 
ferrino;  business  from  the  courts  of  the  states  to  the 

5.  courts  of  the  union ;  and  on  the  fifth  Rutledge  and 
Sherman  insisted  that  state  tribunals  ought,  in  all 
cases,  to  decide  in  the  first  instance,  yet  without  im- 
pairing the  right  of  appeal.  Madison  replied : "  "  Un- 
less inferior  tribunals  are  dispersed  throughout  the 
republic,  in  many  cases  with  final  jurisdiction,  appeals 
will  be  most  oppressively  multiplied.  A  government 
without  a  proper  executive  and  judiciary  will  be  the 
mere  trank  of  a  body,  without  arms  or  legs  to  act  or 
move."  The  motion  to  dispense  with  the  inferior 
national  tribunals  prevailed ;  but  Dickinson,  Wilson, 
and  Madison,  marking  the  distinction  between  estab- 
lishing them  and  giving  a  discretion  to  establish  them, 
obtained  a  great  majority  for  empowering  the  national 
legislature  to  provide  for  their  institution." 

13,  It  was  unanimously  agreed  "  that  the  power  of  the 
national  judiciary  should  extend  to  all  cases  of  na- 
tional revenue,  impeachment  of  national  officers,  and 
questions  which  involve  the  national  peace  or  har- 
mony." * 

6.  On  the  sixth  of  June,  Charles  Pinckney,  supported 
by  Rutledge,  made  once  more  a  most  earnest  effort  in 
favor  of  electing  the  first  branch  of  the  legislature  by 

•Gilpin,  791;    Elliot,  l.-,5;    iind         =  Gili)in,  800;  Elliot,  100.    Cora- 
Elliot,  i.  100.  pare  Elliot,  i.  103,  397. 

»  Gilpin,  708,  799;  Elliot,  159.  *  ('.\\\)\n,  B.IO;  Elliot,  188;  Yates 

in  EUiut,  i.  409. 


THE   CONSTITUTIOlSr   IN    OUTLESTE.  27 

the  legislatures  of  tlie  states,  and  not  by  the  people,  chap. 
"  Vigorous  authority,"  insisted  AVilson,  "  should  flow  -^^^^ 
immediately  from  the  le2:itimate  source  of  all  author-  i^^8  7. 

-n  •  111  °® 

ity,  the  people.  Kepresentation  ought  to  be  the  exact  e. 
transcript  of  the  whole  society ;  it  is  made  necessary 
only  because  it  is  impossible  for  the  people  to  act  col- 
lectively."' "If  it  is  in  view,"  said  Sherman,  "to 
abolish  the  state  governments,  the  elections  ought  to 
be  by  the  people.  If  they  are  to  be  continued,  the 
elections  to  the  national  government  should  be  made 
by  them.  I  am  for  giving  the  general  government 
power  to  legislate  and  execute  within  a  defined  prov- 
ince. The  objects  of  the  union  are  few :  defence 
against  foreign  danger,  internal  disputes,  and  a  resort 
to  force ;  treaties  mth  foreign  nations ;  the  regula- 
tion of  foreisrn  commerce  and  drawino;  revenue  from 
it.  These,  and  perhaps  a  few  lesser  objects,  alone 
rendered  a  confederation  of  the  states  necessary.  All 
other  matters,  civil  and  criminal,  will  be  much  better 
in  the  hands  of  the  states." ' 

"Under  the  existing  confederacy,"  said  Mason, 
"congress  represent  the  states,  and  not  the  people  of 
the  states ;  their  acts  operate  on  the  states,  not  on  in- 
dividuals. In  the  new  j)lan  of  government  the  people 
will  be  represented ; .  they  ought,  therefore,  to  choose 
the  representatives.'  Improper  elections  in  many 
cases  are  inseparable  from  republican  governments. 
But  compare  these  with  the  advantage  of  this  form, 
in  favor  of  the  rights  of  the  people,  in  favor  of  human 
nature ! " 

»  Gilpin,  801,  802;  Elliot,  160.  '  Gilpin,  803;  Elliot,  161. 

'  Gilpin,  802,  803;  Elliot,  161. 


28  THE   FEDERAL    CONVENTIOIS". 

CHAP.       Appro\nng  tlie  objects  of  union  whicli  Sherman 
.-..,-,1^  liad  enumerated,  "I  combine  with  them,"  said  Madi- 
1^8  7-  son,  "the  necessity  of  providing  more  effectually  for 
6.      the  security  of  private  rights  and  the  steady  dispensa- 
tion of  justice." '     And  he  explained  at  great  length 
that  the  safety  of  a  republic  requires  for  its  sphere  a 
large  extent  of  territory,  v^ith  interests  so  many  and 
so  various  that  the  majority  could  never  unite  in  the 
pursuit  of  any  one  of  them.     "  It  is  incumbent  on  us," 
he  said,  "  to  try  this  remedy,  and  to  frame  a  republi- 
can system  on  such  a  scale  and  in  such  a  form  as  will 
control  all  the  evils  which  have  been  experienced." " 
"  It  is  essential,"  said  Dickinson,  "  that  one  branch 
of  the  legislature  should  be  drawn  immediately  from 
the  people  ;  and  it  is  expedient  that  the  other  should 
be  chosen  by  the  legislatures  of  the  states.     This  com- 
bination of  the  state  governments  with  the  national 
government  is  as  politic  as  it  is  unavoidable." 

Pierce  spoke  for  an  election  of  the  fii'st  branch  by 
the  people,  of  the  second  by  the  states ;  so  that  the 
citizens  of  the  states  will  be  represented  both  indi- 
vidually and  collectively.' 
21.  AVhen  on  the  twenty-first  the  same  question  was 
revived  in  the  convention,  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinck- 
ney  of  South  Carolina,  seconded  by  Luther  Martin  of 
Maryland,  adopting  a  milder  form,  j^i'oposed  "that 
the  first  l)ranch,  instead  of  being  elected  by  the  peo- 
ple, should  be  elected  in  such  manner  as  the  legisla- 
ture of  each  state  should  direct."  * 

"  It  is  essential  to  the  democratic  rights  of  the  com- 

*  Gilpin,  804;  Elliot,  lf;3.  ^Cilpin,  807;  Elliot,  1G3. 

"Gilpiu,  800;  Elliot,  103.  *  Gilpin,  023;  Elliot,  223. 


THE    CONSTirUTION   EST    OUTLINE.  29 

munity,"  said  Hamilton,  enouncing  a  principle  wliicli  chap. 
lie  upheld  with  unswerving  consistency,  "that  the  .^-;_. 
first  branch  be  directly  elected  by  the  people."    "  The  i  *?  8  7. 
democratic  principle,"  Mason  repeated,  "must  actuate     21. 
one  part  of  the  government.     It  is  the  only  security 
for  the  rights  of  the  people."     "  An  election  by  the 
legislature,"  pleaded  Rutledge,   "  would  be  a  more 
refining  process."     "  The  election  of  the  first  branch 
by  the  people,"  said  Wilson,  "  is  not  the  corner-stone 
only,   but   the   foundation   of    the   fabric."'     South 
Carolina,  finding  herself  feebly  supported,  gave  up 
the  struggle. 

The  Virginia  plan  intrusted  the  appointment  of  s. 
the  judges  to  the  legislature ;  Wilson  proposed  to 
transfer  it  to  the  executive ;  Madison  to  the  senate ; 
and  for  the  moment  the  last  mode  was  accepted  with- 
out dissent."  All  aG:reed  that  their  tenure  of  ofiice 
should  be  good  behavior,  and  that  their  compensation 
should  be  safe  fi'om  diminution  dui'ing  the  period  of 
their  service. 

On  the  seventh  of  June  Dickinson  moved  that  the  7. 
members  of  the  second  branch,  or,  as  it  is  now  called, 
the  senate,  ought  to  be  chosen  by  the  individual  legis- 
latures." The  motion,  without  waiving  the  claim  to 
perfect  equality,  clearly  implied  that  each  state  should 
elect  at  least  one  senator.  "  If  each  of  the  small  states 
should  be  allowed  one  senator,"  said  Cotesworth 
Pinckney,  "  there  will  be  eighty  at  least."  "  I  have 
no  objection  to  eighty  or  twice  eighty  of  them,"  re- 
joined Dickinson.     "The  legislature  of  a  numerous 

» Gilpin,  926,  937;  Elliot,  223,         'Gilpin,   792,  793,  855;   Elliot, 
224.     Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  432,  433.      155,  156,  188. 

"Gilpin,  812;  Elliot,  166. 


30  THE   FEDEEAL    COIfVENTION. 

CHAr.  people  ought  to  be  a  numerous  body.  I  msli  tTie 
-^^  senate  to  bear  as  strong  a  likeness  as  possible  to  tlie 
17  8  7.  British  house  of  lords,  and  to  consist  of  men  distin- 

June  .  ... 

7.  guished  for  their  rank  in  life  and  their  weight  of  prop- 
erty. Such  characters  are  more  likely  to  be  selected 
by  the  state  legislatures  than  in  any  other  mode."  * 
"  To  depart  from  the  proportional  representation  in 
the  senate,"  said  Madison,  "  is  inadmissible,  beiug  evi- 
dently unjust.  The  use  of  the  senate  is  to  consist  in 
its  proceeding  with  more  coolness,  system,  and  wisdom 
than  the  popular  branch.  Enlarge  their  number,  and 
you  communicate  to  them  the  vices  which  they  are 
meant  to  correct.  Their  weisrht  will  be  in  an  inverse 
ratio  to  their  numbers." '  Dickinson  replied :  "  The 
preservation  of  the  states  in  a  certain  degree  of  agency 
is  indispensable.  The  proposed  national  system  is 
like  the  solar  system,  in  which  the  states  are  the  plan- 
ets, and  they  ought  to  be  left  to  move  more  freely  in 
their  proper  orbits." 

"  The  states,"  answered  Wilson,  "  are  in  no  danger 
of  being  devoured  by  the  national  government ;  I 
wish  to  keep  them  from  devoui'ing  the  national  gov- 
ernment. Their  existence  is  made  essential  by  the 
great  extent  of  our  country.  I  am  for  an  election 
of  the  second  branch  by  the  people  in  large  districts, 
subdividing  the  districts  only  for  the  accommodation 
of  voters." '  Gerry  and  Sherman  declared  themselves 
in  favor  of  electing  the  senate  by  the  individual  legis- 
latures. From  Charles  Piuckney  came  a  proposal  to 
divide  the  states  periodically  into  three  classes  ac- 

'Gilpin,  813;  Elliot,  1(50.  "Gilpin,   817,  818;  Elliot,   1G8, 

•Gilpiu,  814,  815;  Elliut,  1G7.        1G9. 


THE   COlSrSTITUTIOlSr   IN    OUTLINE.  31 

cording  to  tlieir  comparative  importance ;   tlie  first  cnAP. 

class  to  have  three  members,  tlie.  second  two,  and  the '^ 

third  one  member  each ;  but  it  received  no  attention,  i  *? »  y. 
Mason  closed  the  debate :  "  The  state  le2:islatures  7. 
ought  to  have  some  means  of  defending  themselves 
against  encroachments  of  the  national  government. 
And  what  better  means  can  we  provide  than  to  make 
them  a  constituent  part  of  the  national  establishment  ? 
No  doubt  there  is  danger  on  both  sides ;  but  we  have 
only  seen  the  evils  arising  on  the  side  of  the  state 
governments.  Those  on  the  other  side  remain  to  be 
displayed ;  for  congress  had  not  power  to  carry  their 
acts  into  execution,  as  the  national  government  will 
now  have."  The  vote  was  then  taken,  and  the  choice 
of  the  second  branch  or  senate  was  with  one  consent 
intrusted  to  the  individual  legislatures.*  In  this  way 
the  states  as  states  made  their  lodgement  in  the  new 
constitution. 

The  equality  of  the  small  states  was  next  imper- 
illed. On  the  ninth,  David  Brearley,  the  chief  jus-  9. 
tice  of  New  Jersey,  vehemently  protested  against 
any  change  of  the  equal  suffrage  of  the  states.  To 
the  remark  of  Randolph,  that  the  states  ought  to  be 
one  nation,  Paterson  replied :  "  The  idea  of  a  na- 
tional government  as  contradistinguished  from  a  fed- 
eral one  never  entered  into  the  mind  of  any  of  the 
states.  If  the  states  are  as  states  still  to  continue  in 
union,  they  must  be  considered  as  equals.  Thirteen 
sovereign  and  independent  states  can  never  constitute 
one  nation,  and  at  the  same  time  be  states.  If  we  are 
to  be  formed  into  a  nation,  the  states  as  states  must 

» Gilpin,  831 ;  Elliot,  170.     Elliot,  i.  1G5,  399. 


32  THE   FEDERAL    COISTVENTIOIS". 

CHAP,  be'  abolislied,  and  tlie  whole  must  be  thrown  into 
hotchpot,  and  when  an  equal  division  is  made  there 
may  be  fairly  an  equality  of  representation.  New 
Jersey  will  never  confederate  on  the  plan  before  the 
committee.  I  would  rather  submit  to  a  despot  than 
to  such  a  fate.  I  will  not  only  oppose  the  plan  here, 
but  on  my  return  home  will  do  everything  in  my 
power  to  defeat  it  there." " 
11.  When,  on  the  eleventh,  the  committee  of  the  whole 
was  about  to  take  the  question,  Franklin,  ever  the 
peace-maker,  reproved  the  want  of  coolness  and  tem- 
per in  the  late  debates.  "  We  are  sent  here,"  he  said, 
"  to  consult,  not  to  contend  with  each  other ; "  and, 
though  he  mingled  crude  proposals  with  wholesome 
prece^^ts,  he  saw  the  danger  of  the  pass  into  which 
they  were  entering.  There  were  two  Northern  and 
four  Southern  states  demanding  a  representation  in 
some  degree  proportioned  to  numbers — Massachu- 
setts, Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  the  two  Carolinas 
with  Georgia,  whose  delegates,  as  they  contemplated 
her  vast  and  most  fertile  territor}^,  indulged  in  glow- 
ing visions  of  her  swift  advances.  There  were  two 
Northern  with  one  Soutliern  state  for  an  equal  repre- 
sentation of  states — New  York,  New  Jersey,  and 
Delaware.  Connecticut  stood  between  the  two.  It 
was  carried  by  the  six  national  states  and  Connecti- 
cut against  the  three  confederating  states,  Maryland 
being  divided,  that  in  the  first  branch,  or  house  of 
representatives,  of  tlie  national  legislature  the  suf- 
frage ouglit  to  Ije  according  to  some  equitable  ratio. 

'  Pat(;rson  MSS.  870,    003,   903;    Elliot,    17G,    177, 

''  Gilpiu,  831,  b32;  and  compare     11)4,  211. 


THE    COIS^STITUTION   IN    OUTLINE.  33 

In  April,  1783,  congress  liad  apportioned  tlie  sup-  chap. 
plies  of  tlie  states  for  the  common  treasury  to  the  .^^ 
whole  number  of  their  free  inhabitants  and  three  ^'J^'^- 

June 

fifths  of  other  persons;  in  this  precedent  the  equita-     n- 
ble  ratio  for  representation  in  the  popular  branch 
was  found.* 

Connecticut  then  took  the  lead ;  and  Sherman,  act- 
ing upon  a  principle  which  he  had  avowed  more  than 
ten  years  before,  moved  that  each  state  should  have 
one  vote  in  the  second  branch,  or  senate.  "  Every- 
thing," he  said,  "  depends  on  this ;  the  smaller  states 
will  never  agree  to  the  plan  on  any  other  principle 
than  an  equality  of  suffrage  in  this  branch."  Ells- 
worth shored  up  his  colleague ;  but  they  rallied  only 
five  states  against  the  six  which  had  demanded  a  pro- 
portioned representation. 

Finally  Wilson  and  Hamilton  proposed  for  the 
second  branch  the  same  rule  of  suffrage  as  for  the 
first ;  and  this,  too,  was  carried  by  the  phalanx  of  the 
same  six  states  against  the  remaining  five.  So  the 
settlement  offered  by  Wilson,  Hamilton,  Madison, 
Rutledge,  and  others,  to  the  small  states,  and  adopted 
in  the  committee  of  the  Avhole,  was  :  The  appointment 
of  the  senators  among  the  states  according  to  repre- 
sentative population,  except  that  each  state  should 
have  at  least  one. 

The  convention  speeded  through  the  remainder 
of  the  Virginia  plan.  A  guarantee  to  each  state  of 
its  territory  was  declined.  A  republican  constitu- 
tion, the  only  one  suited  to  the  genius  of  the  United 
States,  to  the  principles  on  which  they  had  conducted 

'Gilpin,  843;  Elliot,  181. 

VOL.  II,  3 


34  THE    FEDERAL    CONVENTION. 

CHAP,  tlieir  war  for  independence,  to  tlieir  assumption  be- 
s^^  fore  tlie  world  of  tlie  responsibility  of  demonstrating 
1787.  nian's  capacity  for  self-government,  was  guaranteed 
11-     to  each  one  of  tlie  United  States. 

The  requirement  of  an  oath  from  the  highest  state 
officers  to  support  the  articles  of  union  was  opposed 
by  Sheiman '  as  an  intrusion  into  the  state  jurisdic- 
tions, and  supported  by  Randolph  as  a  necessaiy  pre- 
caution. "  An  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  states  from  na- 
tional officers  might  as  well  be  required,"  said  Gerry. 
Martin  observed:  "If  the  new  oath  should  conflict 
with  that  already  taken  by  state  officers,  it  would 
be  improper;  if  coincident,  it  would  be  supei^flu- 
ous." '  The  clause  was  retained  by  the  vote  of  the 
six  national  states.  By  the  same  vote  the  new  system 
was  referred  for  consideration  and  decision  to  assem- 
blies chosen  expressly  for  the  purpose  by  the  people 
of  the  several  states.  The  articles  of  union  were 
thereafter  open  to  "  amendment  whensoever  it  should 
12.  seem  necessary."  Shennan  and  Ellsworth  wished  the 
members  of  the  popular  branch  to  be  chosen  annually. 
"The  people  of  New  England,"  said  Gerry,  "will 
never  give  up  annual  elections." '  "  AVe  ought,"  re- 
plied Madison,  "  to  consider  what  is  right  and  neces- 
sary in  itself  for  the  attainment  of  a  proper  govern- 
ment ; "  and  his  2')roposal  of  a  term  of  three  years  was 
adopted  for  the  time ;  though,  to  humor  the  Eastern 
states,  it  was  afterward  changed  to  two.  The  ineligi- 
bility of  members  of  congress  to  national  offices  was 
limited  to  one  year  after  their  retirement ;  but  on  the 

'Cilpin,  845;  Elliot,  1H2.  'Gilpin,  8-17;  Elliot,  184. 

"  (Jilpm,  84.j;  Elliot,  183. 


THE    CONSTITUTION   IN    OUTLINE.  35 

motion  of  Charles  Pinckney  tlie  restriction  on  tlieir  chap. 
re-election  was  removed,  and  the  power  of  recalling 
them,  which  was  plainly  inconsistent  with  their  choice 
by  the  people,  was  taken  away.'  The  qualification 
of  age  was  at  a  later  day  fixed  at  twenty-five  years 
for  the  branch  elected  by  the  people. 

For  senators  the  qualification  of  age  was  at  that 
time  fixed  at  thirty.  Pierce  would  have  limited  their 
term  of  service  to  three  years ;  Sherman  to  not  more 
than  five ;  but  a  great  majority  held  seven  years  by 
no  means  too  long^. 

The  resolutions  of  the   committee  departed  from     i3. 
the  original  plan  of  Vii'ginia  but  rarely,  and,  for  the 
most  part,  for  the  better.     Thus  amended,  it  formed 
a  complete  outline  of  a  federal  republic.    The  mighty  a 
work  was  finished  in  thirteen   sessions,  with  little 
opposition  except  from  the  small   states,  and  from 
them  chiefly  because  they  insisted  on  equality  of  suf 
frage  in  at  least  one  branch  of  the  legislature. 
1  GHpin,  851 ;  Elliot,  185. 


June. 


CHAPTEE  II. 

new  jersey  claims  an  equal  representation  op 
the  states. 

15-19  June,  1787. 

The  plan  of  Virginia  divested  the  smaller  states 
of  the  equality  of  suffrage,  which  they  had  enjoyed 
1^7  8  7.  from  the  inception  of  the  union.  "  See  the  conse- 
quence of  pushing  things  too  far,"  said  Dickinson  to 
Madison ;  the  smaller  states,  thou2:h  some  of  their 
members,  like  himself  and  the  delegates  from  Con- 
necticut, wished  for  a  good  national  government  with 
two  branches  of  the  legislature,  were  compelled,  in 
self-defence,  to  fall  back  upon  the  articles  of  confed- 
eration.* 

The  project  which  in  importance  stands  next  to 
that  of  Vii'ginia  is  the  series  of  propositions  of  Con- 
necticut. It  consisted  of  nine  sections,  and  in  the 
sessions  of  tlie  convention  received  the  unanimous 
support  of  tlie  Connecticut  delegation,  particularly 
of  Slierman  and  Ellsworth.  It  was  framed  while 
they  were  still  contriving  amendments  of  the  articles 

>  Gilpin,  8G3,  note  ;  Elliot,  191. 


NEW    JEESEY    CLAIMS   EQUAL   KEPEESENTATIOlSr.       37 

of  tlie  confederation/  It  gave  to  the  legislature  of  chap. 
tlie  United  States  tlie  power  over  commerce  witli  — A- 
foreicjn  nations  and  between  the  states  in  the  union,  '^^^'^• 

^      tD  '     June, 

with  a  revenue  from  customs  and  the  post-office. 
The  United  States  were  to  make  laws  in  all  cases 
which  concerned  theii'  common  interests ;  but  not  to 
interfere  with  the  governments  of  the  states  in  mat- 
ters wherein  the  general  weKare  of  the  United  States 
is  not  affected.  The  laws  of  the  United  States  re- 
lating to  their  common  interests  were  to  be  enforced 
by  the  judiciary  and  executive  officers  of  the  respect- 
ive states.  The  United  States  were  to  institute  one 
supreme  tribunal  and  other  necessary  tribunals,  and 
to  ascertain  their  respective  powers  and  jurisdiction. 
The  individual  states  were  forbidden  to  emit  bills  of 
credit  for  a  currency,  or  to  make  laws  for  the  pay- 
ment or  discharge  of  debts  or  contracts  in  any  man- 
ner differing  fi'om  the  agreement  of  the  parties, 
whereby  foreigners  and  the  citizens  of  other  states 
might  be  affected.     The  common  treasury  shall  be 

*  Therefore,  certainly,  before  19  tion  made  in  1786  by  a  sub-com- 
June,  and  probably  soon  after  the  mittee  of  which  Johnson  was  a 
arrival  of  Sherman  in  Philadel-  member;  and  another,  the  sixth, 
phia.  The  Connecticut  members  does  no  more  than  adopt  the  re- 
were  not  chosen  till  Saturday,  the  port  of  a  committee  of  which  Ells- 
twelfth  of  May.  Ellsworth  took  worth  was  a  member  with  Hamil- 
his  seat  the  twenty-eighth  of  May,  ton  and  Madison  in  1783.  As  to 
Sherman  the  thirtieth,  and  John-  the  introduction  of  the  Connecti- 
son  the  second  of  June.  For  the  cut  articles  into  the  constitution, 
plan,  see  the  Life  of  Roger  Sher-  it  is  hard  to  say  whether  Sherman 
man  by  Jeremiah  Evarts,  in  Bi-  or  Ellsworth  was  the  greatest 
ography  of  the  Signers,  Ed.  of  hater  of  paper  money.  Compare 
1828,  pp.  42-44.  It  maybe  that  Gilpin,  1345,  1442;  Elliot,  485, 
Sherman  drew  the  paper;  but  one  485.  For  proof  of  their  unity  of 
of  the  articles  corresponds  with  action,  compare  their  joint  letter 
the  sixth  recommendation  of  a  from  New  London,  26  September, 
committee  on  which  Ellsworth  1787,  to  Governor  Huntington  of 
served  with  Randolph  in  1781;  Connecticut,  in  Elliot,  i.  491,. 
and  is  very  similar  to  a  proposi- 


38  THE   FEDERAL    CONVENTION. 

CHAP,  supplied  by  the  several  states  in  proportion  to  the 
^.^^-r^^  whole  number  of  white  and  other  free  citizens  and 
17  8  7.  inhabitants  and  three  fifths  of  all  other  persons,  ex- 

June.  .  ,  -  oi        1  1 

cept  Indians  not  paying  taxes,  m  each  state.  Should 
any  state  neglect  to  furnish  its  quota  of  supplies,  the 
United  States  might  levy  and  collect  the  same  on 
the  inhabitants  of  such  state.  The  United  States 
might  call  forth  aid  from  the  people  to  assist  the  civil 
officers  in  the  execution  of  theii-  laws.  The  trial  for 
a  criminal  offence  must  be  by  Jury,  and  must  take 
place  within  the  state  in  which  the  offence  shall  have 
been  committed. 

The  task  of  leadino;  resistance  to  the  lars-e  states 
fell  to  New  Jersey.  Paterson,  one  of  its  foremost 
statesmen,  of  Scotch-Irish  descent,  brought  fi'om  Ire- 
land in  infancy,  a  graduate  of  Princeton,  desired  a 
thoroughly  good  general  government.  Cheerful  in 
disposition,  playful  in  manner,  and  even  in  temper, 
he  was  undisturbed  by  resentments,  and  knew  how 
to  bring  back  his  fiiends  fix)m  a  disappointment  to 
a  good  humor  with  themselves  and  -with  the  world.' 
In  his  present  undertaking  he  was  obliged  to  call 
around  him  a  group  of  states  agreeing  in  almost 
nothing.  New  York,  his  strongest  alty,  acted  only 
from  faction.  New  Jersey  itself  needed  protec- 
tion for  its  commerce  against  New  York.  Luther 
Martin  could  bring  the  support  of  Maryland  only 
in  the  absence  of  a  majority  of  his  colleagues. 
The  people  of  Connecticut"  saw  the  need  of  a  vig- 

*  Dayton   to   Paterson,  1    Fel>.,  and  Connecticut  toGjethor.     In  con- 

1801.     MS.  duct  and  intention  the  delefrates 

"  Gilpin,   802,   808,   Elliot,  191,  of  Connecticut  were   very  unlike 

note,  wrongly   classes  New  York  Yates  and  Lansing. 


NEW   JERSEY    CLADIS   EQUAL    EEPEESEN.TATION.       39 

orous  o-eneral  o-overnment,  -witli  a  le2;islatiu'e  in  two  chap. 

II 
branclies. 

The  plan  of  New  Jersey,  whicli  Paterson  present- 
ed on  tlie  fifteenth,  was  a  revision  of  the  articles  of 
confederation.  It  preserved  a  congress  of  states  in  a 
single  body ;  granted  to  the  United  States  a  revenue 
fi-om  duties,  stamps,  and  the  post-office,  but  nothing 
more  except  by  requisitions  ;  established  a  plural  ex- 
ecutive to  be  elected  and  to  be  removable  by  con- 
gress ;  and  conferred  on  states'  courts  original  though 
not  final  jurisdiction  over  infractions  of  United 
States  laws/ 

"  The  New  Jersey  system,"  said  John  Lansing "  of  i6. 
New  York,  "  is  federal ;  the  Vii'ginia  system,  national. 
In  the  fii'st,  the  powers  flow  fi'om  the  state  govern- 
ments ;  in  the  second,  they  derive  authority  fi'om  the 
people  of  the  states,  and  must  ultimately  annihilate 
the  state  governments.  "We  are  invested  only  with 
power  to  alter  and  amend  defective  parts  of  the  pres- 
ent confederation." ' 

Now  the  powers  granted  by  Virginia  extended  to 
"  all  further  provisions  necessary  to  render  the  federal 
constitution  adequate  to  the  exigencies  of  the  Union." 
"  Fully  adequate,"  were  the  still  more  energetic  words 
of  Pennsylvania.  New  Jersey  did  not  so  much  as 
name  the  articles  of  confederation ;  Avhile  Connecti- 
cut limited  the  discussions  of  its  delegates  only  by 
"  the  general  principles  of  republican  government."  * 

» Paterson  MSS. ;  Elliot,  i.  177;         '  Gilpin,  867;  Elliot,  193;  Yates 

Gilpin,  803-867;  Elliot,  191,  193.  in  Elliot,  411. 

""  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  411  ;   com-         *  Journals  of  Congress,  iv.    Ap- 

pared  with  Gilpin,  807 ;  Elliot,  193 ;  pendix. 
Paterson  MSS. 


40  THE   FEDERAL    COlSrVElSTTION. 

CHAP.       Tlie  states,  Lansino-  furtlier  insisted,  would  not  rat- 

II.     .  .  . 

— ^-^  ify  a  novel  scheme,  while  they  would  readily  approve 

17  ^'^-  an  auojinentation  of  the  familiar   authority  of  con- 

June  ^  '' 

16.     gress.' 

Paterson  next  spoke  with  the  skill  of  a  veteran 
advocate,  setting  forth,  "  not  his  own  opinions,"  as  he 
fi'ankly  and  repeatedly  avowed,'  but  "  the  views  of 
those  who  sent  him." 

"  The  system  of  government  for  the  union  which  I 
have  proposed  accords  with  our  owtl  powers  and 
with  the  sentiments  of  the  people."  If  the  subsisting 
confederation  is  so  radically  defective  as  not  to  admit 
of  amendment,  let  us  report  its  insufficiency  and  wait 
for  enlarged  powers.  If  no  confederation  at  present 
exists,  all  the  states  stand  on  the  footing  of  equal 
sovereignty ;  and  all  must  concur  before  any  one  can 
be  bound."  If  a  federal  compact  exists,  an  equal 
sovereignty  is  its  basis ;  and  the  dissent  of  one  state 
renders  every  proj)osed  amendment  nuU.  The  con- 
federation is  in  the  nature  of  a  compact ;  and  can  any 
state,  unless  by  the  consent  of  the  whole,  either  in 
politics  or  law,  withdraw  its  powers  ?  The  larger 
states  contribute  most,  but  they  have  more  to  pro- 
tect ;  a  rich  state  and  a  poor  state  are  in  the  same 
relation  as  a  rich  individual  and  a  poor  one :  the  lib- 
erty of  the  latter  must  be  preserved.  Two  branches 
are  not  necessary  in  the  supreme  council  of  the 
states;  the  representatives  from  the  several  states 
are  cliecks  upon  eacli  other.     Give  congress  the  same 

'  Oilpin,  808,  809;  Elliot,  194.  '  Gilpin.  809;  Elliot,  194j  Yates 

*  PiitcTson    MS9.      The   inform-  in  Elliot,  i.  413. 

nntH   of  En^Miinfl   namo   Governor  *  Gilpin,  809  ;  Elliot,  194. 

Livingston  ua  the  author. 


NEW   JEESEY    CLAISIS   EQUAL    EEPEESEJSTTATIOX.       41 

powers  tliat  are  intended  for  the  two  branches,  and  chap. 
I  apprehend  they  will  act  with  more  energy  and  wis- 
dom than  the  latter.     Congress  is  the  sun  of  our  po- 
litical system."* 

AYilson  refuted  Paterson  by  contrasting  the  two 
plans.''  ^^  The  congress  of  the  confederacy,"  he  con- 
tinued, "  is  a  single  legislature.  Theory  and  practice 
both  proclaim  that  in  a  single  house  there  is  danger 
of  a  legislative  despotism." '  One  of  the  Pinckneys 
added :  "  The  whole  case  comes  to  this :  give  ]S^ew 
Jersey  an  equal  vote,  and  she  will  dismiss  her  scruples 
and  concur  in  the  national  system."  * 

"When  the  salvation  of  the  republic  is  at  stake," 
said  Randolph,  "  it  would  be  treason  to  our  trust  not 
to  propose  what  we  find  necessary."  The  insufficiency 
of  the  federal  plan  has  been  fully  disj^layed  by  trial. 
The  end  of  a  general  government  can  be  attained 
only  by  coercion,  or  by  real  legislation.  Coercion  is 
impracticable,  expensive,  and  cruel,  and  trains  up 
instruments  for  the  service  of  ambition.  AVe  must 
resort  to  a  national  legislation  over  individuals.  To 
vest  such  power  in  the  congress  of  the  confederation 
would  be  blending^  the  lesfislative  with  the  executive. 
Elected  by  the  legislatures  who  retain  even  a  power 
of  recall,  they  are  a  mere  diplomatic  body,  ^^ith  no 
will  of  theh'  own,  and  always  obsequious  to  the  states 
who  are  ever  encroaching  on  the  authority  of  the 
United   States.'      A  national   government,  properly 

*  Paterson  MSS.  *  Gilpin,  875 ;  Yates  in  Elliot,  i. 

""  Gilpin,  871;  Elliot,  195;  Elliot,     415;  Elliot,  197;  Paterson  MSS. 
i.  414;  Paterson  MSS.  *  Gilpin,  876;  Elliot,  197;  Pat- 

^  Gilpin,  874;  Elliot,  19G.  erson  M^S. 

«  Gilpin,  876,  877;  Elliot,  198. 


42  THE   FEDEEAL    COIS^VEISTTIOTT. 

CHAP,  constituted,  will  alone  answer  tlie  purpose ;  and  this 
— A--  is  the  only  moment  when  it  can  be  established."  * 
^jun'^        On  the  morning  of  the  eighteenth,  Dickinson,  to 
18.     conciliate  the  conflicting   parties,  induced  the   con- 
vention to  proceed  through  a  revision  of  the  articles 
of  the  confederation  to  a  government  of  the  United 
States,  adequate  to  the  exigencies,  preservation,  and 
prosperity  of  the  union.'' 

Hamilton  could  no  longer  remain  silent.  Embar- 
rassed by  the  complete  antagonism  of  both  his  col- 
leagues, he  insisted  that  even  the  New  York  delegates 
need  not  doubt  the  ample  extent  of  theii'  powers,  and 
under  them  the  risrht  to  the  free  exercise  of  their 
judgment.  The  convention  could  only  propose  and 
recommend ;  to  ratify  or  reject  remained  "  in  the 
states." ' 

Feelins:  that  another  ineffectual  effort  "  would  be- 
get  despair,"  he  spoke  for  "  a  solid  plan  without  re- 
gard to  temporary  opinions."  "  Our  choice,"  he  said, 
"  is  to  engraft  powers  on  the  present  confederation, 
or  to  fonn  a  new  government  with  complete  sover- 
eignty." *  He  set  forth  the  vital  defects  of  the  confed- 
eracy, and  that  it  could  not  be  amended  except  by  in- 
vesting it  with  most  important  powers.  To  do  so 
would  establish  a  general  government  in  one  hand 
without  checks ;  a  sovereignty  of  the  worst  kind,  the 
sovereignty  of  a  single  body.  This  is  a  conclusive 
objection  to  the  Jersey  plan.* 

"  I  have  great  doubts,"  he  continued,  "  vdiether  a 

•  Yntes  in  Elliot,  i.  417  ;  Gilpin,         '  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  418. 
877-879  ;    Elliot,    108  ;    Patcisou         *  Hamilton's  Works,  ii.  410. 
MS3.  »  Hamilton's    Works,    ii.    412; 

»  Gilpin,  878  ;  Elliot,  108.  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  430,  431. 


iraW   JEESEY    CLAIMS   EQUAL    EEPEESEXTATION.       43 

national  government  on  tlie  Virginia  plan  can  be  chap. 
effectual/  Gentlemen  say  we  need  to  be  rescued 
from  the  democracy.  But  what  are  the  means  pro- 
posed ?  A  democratic  assembly  is  to  be  checked  by 
a  democratic  senate,  and  both  these  by  a  democratic 
chief  magistrate."  The  Virginia  plan  is  but  pork  still 
with  a  little  change  of  the  sauce.'  It  will  prove  in- 
efficient, because  the  means  will  not  be  equal  to  the 
object." 

"The  general  government  must  not  only  have  a 
strong  soul,  but  strong  organs  by  which  that  soul  is 
to  operate.'  I  despaii^  that  a  republican  form  of  gov- 
ernment can  remove  the  difficulties ;  I  would  hold  it, 
however,  unwise  to  change  it.*  The  best  fonn  of 
government,  not  attainable  by  us,  but  the  model  to 
which  we  should  approach  as  near  as  possible,^  is  the 
British  constitution,*  praised  by  Necker  as  '  the  only 
government  which  unites  public  strength  with  indi- 
\ddual  security.' '  Its  house  of  lords  is  a  most  noble 
institution.  It  forms  a  permanent  barrier  against 
every  pernicious  innovation,  whether  attempted  on 
the  part  of  the  crown  or  of  the  commons." 

"  It  seems  to  be  admitted  that  no  good  executive 
can  be  established  upon  republican  principles."  The 
English  model  is  the  only  good  one.  The  British 
executive  is  placed  above  temptation,  and  can  have 
no  interests  distinct  from  the  public  welfare."     The 

»  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  417.  '  Hamilton,  ii.  413. 

»  Hamilton,  ii.  415.  «  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  421  ;  Ham- 
«  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  423  ;  Gilpin,     ilton,  ii.  413. 

898,  note  ;  Elliot,  205.  "  Gilpin,  884-6  ;  Elliot,  202. 

*  Hamilton,  ii.  415.  "  Gilpin,  88G,  887  ;  Elliot,  203. 

*  Hamilton,  ii.  413.  "  Gilpin,  887  ;  Elliot,  203. 

*  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  421.  *-  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  422. 


44  THE    FEDEEAL    CONVENTION. 

CHAP,  inference  from  tliese  observations  is,  tliat,  to  obtain 

n  •  • 

v^^-^I^  stability  and  permanency,  we  ouglit  to  go  to  tlie  full 

1787.  length  tliat  republican  principles  will  admit/     And 

18.     tlie  government  mil   be  republican  so  long  as  all 

officers  are  appointed  by  tlie  people,  or  by  a  process 

of  election  originating  witb  the  people." 

Hamilton  then  read  and  commented  on  Ms  sketch 
of  a  constitution  for  the  United  States.  It  planted  no 
one  branch  of  the  general  government  on  the  states ; 
but,  by  methods  even  more  national  than  that  of  the 
Virginia  plan,  derived  them  all  from  the  people. 

The  assembly,  which  was  to  be  the  corner-stone  of 
the  edifice,  was  to  consist  of  persons  elected  directly 
by  the  people  for  three  years.  It  was  to  be  checked 
by  a  senate  elected  by  electors  chosen  by  the  people,'' 
and  holdino;  office  durins;  2:ood  behavior.  The  su- 
preme  executive,  whose  term  of  office  was  to  be  good 
behavior,  was  to  be  elected  by  electors,  chosen  by 
electors,  chosen  by  the  people.  "It  may  be  said," 
these  were  his  words,  "  this  constitutes  an  elective 
monarchy ;  but  by  making  the  executive  subject  to 
impeachment  the  term  monarchy  cannot  apply."" 
The  courts  of  the  United  States  were  so  instituted 
as  to  place  the  general  government  above  the  state 
governments  in  all  matters  of  general  concern.'  To 
prevent  tlie  states  from  passing  laws  contrary  to  the 
constitution  or  la\vs  of  the  United  States,  the  execu- 
tive of  each  state  Avas  to  be  appointed  by  the  gen- 

*  fiilpin,  HH9,  ;  Elliot,  203  ;  Yates  plan,  pivon  to  Madison  near    the 

in  Elliot,  i.  422.  close  of  the  convention.       The  sea- 

'I    think    Hamilton    meant  tlio  ute  of  New  York  was  so  chosen. 

choice  of  electors  to  he  made  by  '■'  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  423. 

the    laudholtlurs;     see  hia   fuller  *  Ibid,  423. 


NEW   JERSEY    CLAIMS   EQUAL   KEPEESEISTTATION.       45 

eral  goverumeut  with  a  negative  on  all  state  legis-  chap. 
lation.  v^>^-- 

Hamilton  spoke,  not  to  refer  a  proposition  to  the  1^87. 
committee,  but  only  to  present  his  own  ideas,  and  to  is. 
indicate  the  amendments  which  he  mis-ht  offer  to  the 
Virginia  plan.  He  saw  evils  operating  in  the  states 
which  must  soon  cure  the  people  of  their  fondness 
for  democracies,  and  unshackle  them  from  their  preju- 
dices ;  so  that  they  would  be  ready  to  go  as  far  at 
least  as  he  had  suG^o-ested/  But  for  the  moment  he 
held  it  the  duty  of  the  convention  to  balance  incon- 
veniences and  dangers,  and  choose  that  which  seemed 
to  have  the  fewest  objections.' 

Hamilton  "was  praised  by  everybody,  but  sup- 
ported by  none," '  It  was  not  the  good  words  for 
the  monarchy  of  Great  Britain  that  estranged  his 
hearers.  Hamilton  did  not  go  far  beyond  the  lan- 
guage of  Kandolph,*  or  Dicldnson,"  or  Geny,'  or 
Charles  Pinckney."  The  attachment  to  monarchy  in 
the  United  States  had  not  been  consumed  by  vol- 
canic fires ;  it  had  disappeared  because  there  was 
nothing  left  in  them  to  keep  it  alive,  and  the  nation 
imperceptibly  and  without  bitterness  outgrew  its  old 
habits  of  thousfht.  Gratitude  for  the  revolution  of 
1688  still  threw  a  halo  round  the  house  of  lords. 
But  Hamilton,  finding  a  home  in  the  United  States 
only  after  his  mind  was  near  maturity,  did  not  cherish 
toward  the  states  the  feeling  of  those,  who  were  born 
and  bred  on  the  soil  and  received  into  their  aifections 

»  Gilpin,  890  ;  Elliot,  204.  •  Gilpin,  778  ;  Elliot,  148. 

"  Hamilton,  ii.  415.  '  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  408. 

»  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  431.  '  Gilpin,  949  ;  Elliot,  235. 
♦  Gilpin,  763  ;  Elliot,  141. 


46  THE    FEDERAL    COISTVENTION. 

CHAP,  tlie  tliouglit  and  experience  of  tlie  preceding  genera- 
tion. His  speecli  called  forth  from  many  sides  tlie 
liveliest  defence  of  the  rio-lits  of  the  states. 

On  the  nineteenth  the  convention  in  committee 
rejected  the  milder  motion  of  Dickinson ;  and  after 
an  exhaustive  analysis  by  Madison  *  of  the  defects  in 
the  New  Jersey  plan,  they  reported  the  amended 
plan  of  Virginia  by  the  vote  of  the  six  national 
states,  aided  by  the  vote  of  Connecticut." 

»  Gilpin,  893  ;  Elliot,  206.  ''  Gilpin,  904  ;  Elliot,  213  ;  Yates 

in  Elliot,  i.  425. 


CHAPTEE  III. 

THE   CONNECTICUT   COMPROMISE. 

The  convention,  wliicli  had  shown  itself  so  reso-  chap. 
lute  for  consolidatino"  the  union,  next  bethought  itself  .!!!_ 
of  home   rule.     In  reply  to  what  had  fallen  from  iisi. 
Hamilton,  Wilson  said  :  "  I  am  for  a  national  govern-     19. 
ment,  but  not  one  that  will  swallow  up  the  state  gov- 
ernments ;    these   are  absolutely  necessary  for  pur- 
poses which  the  national  government  cannot  reach."  * 

"I  did  not  intend  yesterday,"  exclaimed  Hamilton, 
"  a  total  extinguishment  of  state  governments ;  but 
that  a  national  government  must  have  indefinite  sov- 
ereignty ;  for  if  it  were  limited  at  all,  the  rivalship  of 
the  states  would  gradually  subvert  it'  The  states 
must  retain  subordinate  jurisdictions."'  "If  the 
states,"  said  King,  "  retain  some  portion  of  their  sov- 
ereignty, they  have  certainly  divested  themselves 
of  essential  portions  of  it.  If,  in  some  respects,  they 
form  a  confederacy,  in  others  they  fonn  a  nation." 

Martin  held  that  the  separation  from  Great  Britain 
placed  the  thirteen  states  in  a  state  of  nature  toward 

»  Gilpin,  904;  Elliot,  212.  »  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  426. 

*  Gilpin,  905;  Elliot,  212. 


48  THE   FEDERAL    CONVENTION. 

CHAP,  each  otlier.'     This  AVilson  denied,  saying:  "In  the 
-^.^-^  declaration  of  independence  the  united  colonies  were 
1  ^^  s  ■'•  declared  to  be  fi'ee  and  independent  states,  indepen- 
ly.     dent,  not  individually,  but  unitedly." ' 

Connecticut,  which  was  in  all  sincerity  partly  fed- 
eral and  partly  national,  was  now  compelled  to  take 
the  lead.  As  a  state  she  was  the  most  homogeneous 
and  the  most  fixed  in  the  character  of  her  consociate 
churches  and  her  complete  system  of  home  govern- 
ment. Her  delectation  to  the  convention  was  thrice 
remarkable :  they  had  precedence  in  age ;  in  experi- 
ence, from  1776  to  1786  on  committees  to  frame  or 
amend  a  constitution  for  the  country ;  and  in  illus- 
tratino;  the  force  of  relio-ion  in  human  life. 

Roger  Sherman  was  a  unique  man.  No  one  in  the 
convention  had  had  so  large  experience  in  legislating 
for  the  United  States.  Next  to  Franklin  the  oldest 
man  in  the  convention,  like  Franklin  he  had  had  no 
education  but  in  the  common  school  of  his  bii-thplace 
hard  by  Boston ;  and  as  the  one  learned  the  trade  of 
a  tallow-chandler,  so  the  other  had  been  apprenticed 
to  a  shoemaker. 

Left  at  nineteen  an  orphan  on  the  father's  side,  he 
ministered  to  his  mother  durino;  her  lono-  life ;  and 
having  suffered  from  the  want  of  a  lil)eral  education, 
he  provided  it  for  his  younger  brothers.  Resolved 
to  con(]uer  poverty,  at  the  age  of  two-and-twenty  he 
wrapped  lilniself  in  liis  own  manliness,  and  bearing 
witli  liim  the  tools  of  his  trade,  he  mi2:rated  on  foot 
to  New  Milford,  in  Connecticut,  where  he  gained  a 
living  by  his   craft   or  by   trade,    until   in   Decern- 

'  Gilpin,  900,  907;  Elliot,  213.  '  Gilpin,  907;  Elliot,  213. 


THE   COISTNECTICUT   COMPEOMISE.  49 

ber,  1754,  after  careful  study,  lie  was  admitted  to  cn.vp. 

the  bar.  .^..^ 

There  was  in  hiin  kind-heartedness  and  industry,  ^  ^  ^  '^• 

T  T         -,         .  June 

penetration  and  close  reasoning,  an  unclouded  mtel-  i9. 
lect,  superiority  to  passion,  intrepid  patriotism,  solid 
judgment,  and  a  directness  which  went  straight  to  its 
end ;  so  that  the  country  people  among  whom  he 
lived,  first  at  New  Milford,  and  then  at  New  Haven, 
gave  him  every  possible  sign  of  their  confidence. 
The  church  made  him  its  deacon ;  Yale  College  its 
treasurer ;  New  Haven  its  representative,  and  when 
it  became  a  city,  he  was  its  first  mayor,  and  remained 
so  during  life.  For  nineteen  years  he  was  annually 
chosen  one  of  the  twelve  assistants,  or  upper  house 
of  the  legislature ;  and  for  twenty-three  years  a  judge 
of  the  court  of  common  pleas,  or  of  the  superior 
court. 

A  plurality  of  offices  being  then  allowed,  Sherman 
was  sent  to  the  first  congress  in  1774,  and  to  every 
other  congress  to  the  last  hour  of  his  life,  except 
when  excluded  by  the  fundamental  law  of  rotation. 
In  congress  he  served  on  most  of  the  important  com- 
mittees, the  board  of  war,  the  board  of  the  marine, 
the  board  of  finance.  He  signed  the  declaration  of 
1774,  which  some  writers  regard  as  the  date  of  our 
nationality ;  was  of  the  committee  to  write,  and  was  a 
signer  of  the  declaration  of  independence ;  was  of  the 
committee  to  frame  the  articles  of  the  confederation, 
and  a  sisrner  of  that  instrument.  No  one  is  kno^vn 
to  have  complained  of  his  filling  too  many  offices,  or 
to  have  found  fault  with  the  manner  in  which  he 
filled  them.     In  the  convention  he  never  made  long 


50  THE    FEDERAL    COJTVTENTIOTf. 

CHAP,  speeches,  but  would  intuitively  seize  on  tlie  tuming- 
v^_^  point  of  a  question,  and  present  it  in  terse  language 
178  7.  wliicli  showed  Ms  own  opinion  and  the  strength  on 
19.     which  it  rested. 

By  the  side  of  Sherman  stood  William  Samuel 
Johnson,  then  sixty  years  of  age.  He  took  his  first 
degree  at  Yale,  his  second,  after  a  few  months'  fur- 
ther study,  at  Harvard ;  became  a  representative  in 
the  Connecticut  assembly;  was  a  delegate  to  the 
stamp  act  congress  of  1765,  and  assisted  in  writing 
its  address  to  the  king.  From  1766  to  1776  he  was 
chosen  one  of  the  twelve  assistants  and  one  of  the 
judges  of  the  superior  court,  even  while  he  acted  as 
the  able  and  faithful  agent  of  his  state  in  England, 
where  Oxford  made  him  a  doctor  of  civil  laws.  He 
was  sent  by  Connecticut  on  a  peace  mission  to  Gage 
at  Boston ;  but  from  the  war  for  independence  he 
kept  aloof.  His  state,  nevertheless,  appointed  him  its 
leading  counsel  in  its  territorial  disputes  with  Penn- 
sylvania. A  delegate  to  the  fifth  congress  and  the 
sixth,  he  acted  in  1786  on  a  grand  committee  and  its 
sub-committee  for  reforming  the  federal  government. 
He  had  just  been  unanimously  chosen  president  of 
Columbia  college.  His  calm  and  conservative  char- 
acter made  him  tardy  in  coming  up  to  a  new  position, 
so  that  he  had  even  opposed  the  call  of  the  federal 
convention.*  He  was  of  good-humor,  composedness, 
and  candor,  and  he  knew  how  to  conciliate  and  to 
convince. 

The  third  member  of  the  Connecticut  delegation 
was  Oliver  Ellsworth,  whom  we  have  seen  on  the 

»Galc  to  Johnson,  19  April,  1787.     MS.     Gilpin,  589;  Elliot,  96. 


TIEE    CONNECTICUT    COMPKOMISE.  51 

committee  of  1781  for  amendino;  tlie  constitution,  and  chap. 

.  .Ill 

on  tlie  committee  of  1783  for  addressino;  the  states  in  v.^^ 

belialf  of  further  reforms.  A  native  of  Connecticut,  i "?  §  7. 
he  was  at  Yale  for  two  years,  and  in  1766,  after  two  i9. 
years  more  of  study,  graduated  in  the  college  of  New 
Jersey,  where  Luther  Martin  was  his  classmate.  Of 
a  robust  habit  of  mind,  he  was  full  of  energy  and  by 
nature  hopeful ;  devoid  of  sentimentality  and  safe 
af?ainst  the  seductions  of  feelinsr  or  the  delusions  of 
imagination,  he  was  always  self-possessed.  Free  from 
rancor  and  superior  to  flattery,  he  could  neither  be 
intimidated  nor  cajoled.  His  mind  advanced  cau- 
tiously, but  with  great  moving  force.  Knowing  what 
he  needed,  he  could  not  be  turned  from  its  pursuit ; 
obtaining  it,  he  never  wrangled  for  more.  He  had 
been  the  attorney  of  his  own  state,  a  member  of  its 
assembly,  one  of  its  delegates  in  congress,  a  colleague 
of  Sherman  in  its  superior  court ;  and  now,  at  the  age 
of  two-and-forty,  rich  in  experience,  he  becomes  one 
of  the  chief  workmen  in  framing  the  federal  constitu- 
tion. On  the  twentieth,  he  put  forth  all  his  strength  20. 
to  obtain  the  equal  representation  of  the  states  in  the 
senate. 

By  Paterson,  in  his  notes  for  a  New  Jersey  plan, 
the  proposed  new  government  "jvas  named  "  the  federal 
government  of  the  United  States ; "  by  Dickinson,  in 
his  resolution,  "  the  government  of  the  United  States." 
In  the  Virginia  plan  it  was  described  as  "  national " 
nineteen  times,  and  in  the  report  from  the  convention  in 
committee  of  the  whole  to  the  house,  twenty-six  times. 
Ellsworth,  who  then  and  ever  after  did  not  scruple 
to  use  the  word  "national,"  moved  to  substitute  in 


52  THE   FEDEEAL    COXVEXTIOIS'. 

CHAP,  tlie  amended  Virginia  plan  tlie  phrase  of  DicMnson 
v^-^-L.  as   tlie   proper   title/      To  avoid  alarm,  tlie  friends 
i^s7.  to  the  national  plan  unhesitatingly  accepted  the  col- 
20.     orless  change/     Lansing  then  moved  "  that  the  pow- 
ers of  leo;islation  ouf>;ht  to  be  vested  in  the  United 
States  in  cono;ress."     He  dwelt  ao:ain  on  the  want 
of  power  in  the  convention,  the  probable  disappro- 
bation of  their  constituents,  the  consequent  dissolu- 
tion of  the  union,  the  inability  of  a  general  govern- 
ment to  pervade  the  whole  continent,  the  danger  of 
complicating  the  British  model  of  government  with 
state  governments  on  principles  which  would  gradu- 
ally destroy  the  one  or  the  other. 

Mason  protested  against  a  renewed  agitation  of  the 
question  between  the  two  plans,  and  against  the  ob- 
jection of  a  want  of  ample  powers  in  the  convention ; 
with  impassioned  wisdom,  he  continued  : 

"  On  two  points  the  American  mind  is  well  settled : 
an  attachment  to  republican  government,  and  an  at- 
tachment to  more  than  one  branch  in  the  le2:islature. 
The  general  accord  of  their  constitutions  in  both 
these  circumstances  must  either  have  been  a  miracle, 
or  must  have  resulted  from  the  genius  of  the  people. 
Congress  is  the  only  single  legislature  not  chosen  by 
the  people  themselves,  and  in  consequence  they  have 
been  constantly  averse  to  giving  it  further  ])owers. 
They  never  will,  they  never  can,  intrust  their  dearest 
rights  and  liberties  to  one  body  of  men  not  cliosen 
by  tliem,  and  yet  invested  with  the  sword  and  the 
purse  ;  a  conclave,  transacting  their  business  in  secret 
and  guided  in  many  of  their  acts  by  factions  and 

»  Gilpin,  908,  909;  Elliot,  214.  "  Martin  in  Elliot,  i.  3G3. 


THE   CONNECTICUT    COMPEOMISE.  53 

party  spirit.     It  is  acknowledged  by  tlie  author  of  chap. 
the  New  Jersey  plan  that  it  cannot  be  enforced  with-  -.^^,-1^ 
out  military  coercion.     The  most  jarring  elements  of  i  *?  ^  7. 
nature,  fire  and  water,  are  not  more  incompatible  than     20. 
such  a  mixture  of  civil  liberty  and  military  execution. 

"  Notwithstanding  my  solicitude  to  establish  a  na- 
tional government,  I  never  will  agree  to  abolish  the 
state  governments,  or  render  them  absolutely  insig- 
nificant. They  are  as  necessary  as  the  general  gov- 
ernment, and  I  shall  be  equally  careful  to  preserve 
them.  I  am  aware  of  the  difficulty  of  drawing 
the  line  between  the  two,  but  hope  it  is  not  insur- 
mountable. That  the  one  government  will  be  pro- 
ductive of  disputes  and  jealousies  against  the  other,  I 
believe;  but  it  mil  produce  mutual  safety.  The 
convention  cannot  make  a  faultless  government ;  but 
I  will  trust  posterity  to  mend  its  defects." ' 

The  day  ended  in  a  definitive  refusal  to  take  up 
the  proposition  of  Lansing;  the  six  national  states 
standing  together  against  the  three  federal  ones  and 
Connecticut,  Maryland  being  divided.  The  four 
southernmost  states  aimed  at  no  selfish  advantages, 
when  in  this  hour  of  extreme  danger  they  came  to 
the  rescue  of  the  union.  Moreover,  the  people  of  Ma- 
ryland were  by  a  large  majority  on  the  side  of  the 
national  states,  and  the  votes  of  Connecticut  and  Del- 
aware were  given  only  to  pave  the  way  to  an  equal 
vote  in  the  senate. 

Weary  of  supporting  the  New  Jersey  plan,  Sher- 
man "  pleaded  for  two  houses  of  the  national  legisla- 

'  Gilpin,  912-915  ;   Elliot,  216,         ^  Gilpin,  918;  Elliot,  219. 
217  ;  Yates  in  Elliot,  1.  428,  429. 


54  THE   FEDEEAL    COJSTVENTIOK 

CHAP,  ture  and  an  equal  vote  of  tlie  states  in  one  of  tliem. 

V-.-Y— '  On  tlie  next  morning  Jolinson '  took  up  the  theme. 

y^^  '^-  Avoiding  every  appearance  of  dictation,  lie  invited 
21.  the  convention  to  harmonize  the  individuality  of  the 
states  as  j^i'oposed  by  New  Jersey  with  the  general 
sovereignty  and  jurisdiction  of  the  Virginia  plan. 
He  wished  it  to  be- well  considered,  whether  the  por- 
tion of  sovereignty  which  was  to  remain  with  the 
states  could  be  preserved  without  allowing  them  in 
the  second  branch  of  the  national  legislature  a  dis- 
tinct and  equal  vote. 

The  six  national  states,  re- enforced  by  Connecticut, 
then  resolved'  that  the  general  legislature  should 
consist  of  two  branches.  Upon  this  decision,  which 
was  carried  by  more  than  two  states  to  one,  the  New 
Jersey  plan  fell  hopelessly  to  the  ground. 
25.  It  was  in  the  course  of  these  debates  that  AVilson 
said :  "  When  I  consider  the  amazino:  extent  of  coun- 
try,  the  immense  population  which  is  to  fill  it,  the  in- 
fluence which  the  government  we  are  to  form  will 
have,  not  only  on  the  present  generation  of  our  peo- 
ple and  their  multiplied  posterity,  but  on  the  whole 
globe,  I  am  lost  in  the  magnitude  of  the  object." 
We  are  laying  the  foundation  of  a  building  in  which 
millions  are  interested,  and  which  is  to  last  for  ages.* 
In  laying  one  stone  amiss  we  may  injure  the  super- 
structure ;  and  what  will  be  the  consequence  if  the 
corner-stone  should  be  loosely  placed  ?  A  citizen  of 
America  is  a  citizen  of  the  general  .government,  and  is 

*  Gilpin,  920;  Elliot,  230;  Yates        ="  Gilpin,  95G;  Elliot,  239. 
in  Elliot,  i.  4^1.  «  Yutcs  in  Elliot,  i.  446. 

''  Gilpin,    92.-)  ;    Elliot,    223  ;    i. 
184;  Yutoa  in  Elliot,  i.  432. 


THE    CONU'ECTICUT   COMPEOMISE.  55 

a  citizen  of  tlie  particular  state  in  wliicli  lie  may  re-  cnAP. 

side/     The  general  government  is  meant  for  them  in  . ,_L. 

tlie  first  capacity ;  the  state  p-overnments  in  the  sec-  i  ?  s  7. 
ond.  lioth  governments  are  derived  irom  the  peo-  25. 
pie,  both  meant  for  the  people;  both,  therefore, 
ought  to  be  regulated  on  the  same  principles."  In 
forming  the  general  government  we  must  forget  our 
local  habits  and  attachments,  lay  aside  our  state  con- 
nections, and  act  for  the  general  good  of  the  whole/ 
The  general  government  is  not  an  assemblage  of 
states,  but  of  individuals,  for  certain  political  pur- 
poses ;  it  is  not  meant  for  the  states,  but  for  the  indi- 
viduals composing  them ;  the  individuals,  therefore, 
not  the  states,  ought  to  be  represented  in  it."  *  He 
persisted  to  the  last  in  demanding  that  the  senate 
should  be  elected  by  electors  chosen  by  the  people. 

Ellsworth  replied :  "  Whether  the  member  of  the 
senate  be  appointed  by  the  j)eople  or  by  the  legisla- 
ture, he  will  be  a  citizen  of  the  state  he  is  to  repre- 
sent. Every  state  has  its  particular  views  and  preju- 
dices, which  will  find  their  way  into  the  general 
council,  through  whatever  channel  they  may  flow.* 
The  state  legislatures  are  more  competent  to  make  a 
judicious  choice  than  the  people  at  large.  Without 
the  existence  and  co-operation  of  the  states,  a  repub- 
lican government  cannot  be  supported  over  so  great 
an  extent  of  country.  We  know  that  the  people  of 
the  states  are  strongly  attached  to  their  own  consti- 
tutions. If  you  hold  up  a  system  of  general  govern- 
ment, destructive  of  their  constitutional  rights,  they 

»  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  445,  446.  *  Gilpin,  957;  ElUot,  239. 

«  Gilpin,  95G ;  Elliot,  339.  » Ibid. 

'  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  44G. 


56  THE   FEDEEAL    COinTENTION. 

CHAP,  will  oppose  it.  Tlie  only  cliance  we  liave  to  support 
a  general  government  is  to  graft  it  on  tlie  state  gov- 
ernments." * 

That  the  members  of  the  second  branch  should  be 
chosen  by  the  individual  legislatures,  which  in  the 
committee  had  been  unanimously  accepted,  was  then 
affirmed  in  convention  by  all  the  states  except  Penn- 
sylvania and  Virginia,  which  looked  upon  this  mode 
of  choice  as  the  stepping-stone  to  an  equal  represen- 
tation." 

For  the  term  of  office  of  the  senators,  who,  as  all 
agreed,  were  to  go  out  in  classes,  Randolph  proposed 
seven  years;  Cotesworth  Pinckney,  four;  Gorham 
and  Wilson,  six  with  biennial  rotation.  Read  de- 
sired the  tenure  of  good  behavior,  but  hardly  finding 
a  second,^  moved  for  a  term  of  nine  3^ears  as  the 
26.     longest  which  had  a  chance  for  support. 

Madison  came  to  his  aid.  "  The  second  branch,  as 
a  limited  number  of  citizens,  respectable  for  wisdom 
and  vii'tue,  will  be  watched  by  and  will  keep  watch 
over  the  representatives  of  the  people  ;  it  will  season- 
ably interpose  between  impetuous  counsels ;  and  will 
guard  the  minority  who  are  placed  above  indigence 
against  the  agrarian  attempts  of  the  ever-increasing 
class  who  labor  under  all  the  hardships  of  life,  and  se- 
cretly sigh  for  a  more  equal  distribution  of  its  bless- 
in  o^s.  The  lono^er  the  members  of  the  senate  continue 
in  office,  the  better  will  these  objects  be  answered. 
The  term  of  nine  years  can  threaten  no  real  danger."  * 

»  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  44fi,  447.  »  Compare  Gilpin,  OGO,  or  Elliot, 

»  Gilpin,  959;  Elliot,  240;  Yatea    241.  with  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  448. 
in  Elliot,  i.  447.  *  Giljiin,  904;  Elliot,  242,  243; 

Yates  iu  Elliot,  i.  450. 


THE    CONNECTICUT   COMPROMISE.  57 

Sherman  replied:  "The  more  permanency  a  gov^-  chap. 
ernment  lias,  the  worse,  if  it  be  a  bad  one.  I  shall  be  -^^ 
content  with  six  years  for  the  senate  ;  but  f oui'  will  be  ^  J  ^  ^■ 

''  '  June 

quite  sufficient." '  s^o. 

"  We  are  now  to  decide  the  fate  of  republican 
government,"  said  Hamilton ;  "  if  we  do  not  give  to 
that  form  due  stability,  it  will  be  disgraced  and  lost 
anions:  ourselves,  disa;raced  and  lost  to  mankind  for- 
ever.''  I  acknowledge  I  do  not  think  favorably  of 
republican  government ;  but  I  address  my  remarlvs 
to  those  who  do,  in  order  to  prevail  on  them  to 
tone  their  government  as  high  as  possible.  I  profess 
myself  as  zealous  an  advocate  for  liberty  as  any 
man  whatever ;  and  trust  I  shall  be  as  willing  a 
martyr  to  it,  though  I  differ  as  to  the  form  in  which 
it  is  most  eligible.  Real  liberty  is  neither  found  in 
despotism  nor  in  the  extremes  of  democracy,  but  in 
moderate  2:overnments.^  Those  who  mean  to  form  a 
solid  republic  ought  to  proceed  to  the  confines  of  an- 
other s:overnment.  If  we  incline  too  much  to  democ- 
racy,  we  shall  soon  shoot  into  a  monarchy."  The 
term  of  nine  years  received  only  the  votes  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Delaware,  and  Virginia ;  and  that  for  six 
years,  with  the  biennial  renewal  of  one  third  of  its 
members,  was  carried  by  the  voice  of  seven  states 
against  four.* 

On  the  twenty-seventh,  Eutledge  brought  the  con-     27. 
vention  to  consider  the  rule  of  suffrage  in  the  two 
branches  of  the  national  legislature.     For  the  rest  of 
the  day,  and  part  of  the  next,  Martin  vehemently  de- 

*  Gilpin,     965  ;      Elliot,     243  ;         "  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  450. 
Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  450.  "  Gilpin,    9G9  ;    Elliot,    245  ;    i. 

"  GUpin,  9G5,  9GG ;  Elliot,  244.       451. 


68  THE    FEDERAL    CONVENTIOIS". 

CHAP,  noimced  any  general  government  tLat  could  reacli  in- 
v-.-,-^  dividuals,  and  intimated  plainly  that  Clinton  of  New 
1 V8  7.  York  would  surely  prevent  its  adoption  in  tliat  state. 
28.  Lansing  renewed  the  proposal  to  vote  by  states  in 
the  first  branch  of  the  les-islature.  Madison  summed 
up  a  most  elaborate  statement  by  saying :  "  The  two 
extremes  before  us  are,  a  perfect  separation,  and  a  per- 
fect incorporation  of  the  thirteen  states.  In  the  first 
case,  they  will  be  independent  nations,  subject  only 
to  the  law  of  nations ;  in  the  last,  they  vidll  be  mere 
counties  of  one  entire  republic,  subject  to  one  com- 
mon law.  In  the  first,  the  smaller  states  will  have 
everything  to  fear  from  the  larger ;  in  the  last,  noth- 
ing. Their  true  policy,  therefore,  lies  in  promoting 
that  form  of  government  which  "wdll  most  approxi- 
mate the  states  to  the  condition  of  counties."  *  John- 
son and  Sherman  and  Ellsworth,  Paterson  and  Dick- 
inson, even  at  the  risk  of  union,  opposed  King,  the 
most  eloquent  orator,  Wilson,  the  most  learned  civil- 
ian, and  Madison,  the  most  careful  statesman,  of  the 
convention.  It  was  in  vain  for  the  smaller  states  to 
say  they  intended  no  injustice,  and  equally  in  vain 
for  Madison  to  plead  that  the  large  states,  from  dif- 
fering customs,  i-eligion,  and  interests,  could  never 
unite  in  perilous  combinations.  In  the  great  diversity 
of  sentiment,  Johnson  was  saddened  by  anxiety  for 
the  result ; '  and  at  a  later  day  Martin  reported  that 
the  convention  was  "  on  tlie  verge  of  dissolution, 
scarce  held  together  by  the  strength  of  a  hair." ' 
To  restore  calm,  Franklin,  just  as  the  house  was 

*  Cilpin,  982  ;  Elliot,  2r>2.  son,  Philadelphia,  37  June,  1787. 

'■'  William  bumuclJolmson  to  his     MS. 

» Elliot,  i.  358. 


THE    COmSTECTICUT    COMPROMISE.  59 

about  to  adjourn,  proposed  tliat  tlie  convention  sliould  chap. 
be  opened  every  morning  by  prayer.  Having  present  — ,— - 
in  Ms   mind   Lis  own   marvellous   career   from   tlie  \^^'^- 

June 

mocking  skepticism  of  kis  boykood,  ke  said :  "  Tke  28. 
longer  I  live,  tke  more  convincing  proofs  I  see  tkat 
God  governs  in  tke  affairs  of  men.  I  firmly  believe 
tkat  '  except  tke  Lord  build  tke  kouse,  tkey  labor  in 
vain  tkat  build  it.'  Witkout  kis  concurring  aid,  we 
skall  be  divided  by  our  little  local  interests,  succeed 
no  better  tkan  tke  builders  of  Babel,  and  become  a 
reproack  and  by- word  to  future  ages.  Wkat  is  worse, 
mankind  may  kereafter,  from  this  unfortunate  in- 
stance, despair  of  establisking  government  by  kuman 
wisdom,  and  leave  it  to  ckance  and  war."  '  Tke  mo- 
tion w^as  avoided  by  adjournment. 

Tke  concurring  aid  wkick  Franklin  invoked  im-  29. 
plied  a  purification  from  tke  dominion  of  selfisk  in- 
terests. In  tke  next  meeting  tke  members  were 
less  absorbed  by  inferior  motives."  Tke  debate  was 
opened  by  Joknson.  "  A  state,"  ke  said,  "  exists  as  a 
political  society,  and  it  exists  as  a  district  of  indi\4d- 
ual  citizens.  Tke  aristocratic  and  otker  interests,  and 
tke  interests  of  tke  states,  must  be  armed  witk  some 
power  of  self-defence.  In  one  brancli  of  tke  general 
government,  tke  people  ougkt  to  be  represented ;  in 
tke  otker,  tke  states." '  Gorkam  br ougkt  togetker 
arguments  for  union  alike  from  tke  point  of  view  of 
small  and  of  large  states ;  and  kis  last  word  was :  "  A 
union  of  tke  states  is  necessary  to  tkeir  kappiness, 
and  a  firm  general  government  is  necessary  to  tkeir 

*  Gilpin,  985  ;  Elliot,  253,  254.  «  Gilpin,  987  ;  Elliot,  255. 

'  Walter  Scott's  Heart  of  Md- 
lothian,  vol.  i.,  chap.  xiv. 


60  TIIE   FEDEEAL    CaJSrVENTIOlvr. 

CHAP,  union.     I  will  stay  liere  as  long  as  any  state  will  re- 

..^-^-I^  main,  in  order  to  agree  on  some  plan  tliat  can  be 

17  8  7.  recommended  to  the  people."  * 

29.         "  I  do  not  despair,"  said  Ellsworth  ;  "  I  still  trust 

that  some  good  plan  of  government  will  be  devised 

and  adopted." 

"  If  this  point  of  representation  is  once  well  fixed," 
said  Madison,  "  we  shall  come  nearer  to  one  another 
in  sentiment."  The  necessity  will  then  be  discovered 
of  circumscribing  more  effectually  the  state  govern- 
ments, and  enlarging  the  bounds  of  the  general  gov- 
ernment. There  is  a  gradation  from  the  smallest  cor- 
poration with  the  most  limited  powers  to  the  largest 
empire  mth  the  most  perfect  sovereignty.'  The 
states  never  possessed  the  essential  rights  of  sover- 
eignty ;  these  were  always  vested  in  congress.  Vot- 
ing as  states  in  congress  is  no  evidence  of  sovereignty. 
The  state  of  Maryland  voted  by  counties.  Did  this 
make  the  counties  sovereign  ?  The  states,  at  present, 
are  only  great  corporations,  having  the  power  of  mak- 
ing b3^-la^vs  not  contradictory  to  the  general  confeder- 
ation.* The  proposed  government  'will  have  powers 
far  beyond  those  exercised  by  the  British  parliament 
when  the  states  were  part  of  the  British  empire. 

"  The  mixed  nature  of  the  government  ought  to  be 
kept  in  view ;  but  the  exercise  of  an  e(pial  voice  by 
unequal  portions  of  the  people  is  confessedly  unjust, 
and  would  infuse  mortality  into  the  constitution 
which  \ve  wish  to  last  forever.  A  .total  separation 
of  the  states  from  each  other  or  partial  confederacies 

'  fJilpin,  980  ;  Elliot,  235.  '•'  Oilpiii,  9!)0  ;  Elliot,  256. 

'  ElUot,  i.  401.  *  Yates  iu  Elliot,  i.  401. 


THE    CONTSTECTICUT    COMPEOMISE.  61 

would  alike  be  truly  deplorable ;  and  those  wlio  may  chap. 
be  accessory  to  either  can  never  be  forgiven  by  their 
country,  nor  by  themselves." ' 

"  In  all  the  states,"  said  Hamilton,  "  the  rights  of 
individuals  with  regard  to  suffrage  are  modified  by 
qualifications  of  property.  In  like  manner  states  may 
modify  their  right  of  suffrage,  the  larger  exercising  a 
larger,  the  smaller  a  smaller  share  of  it.  Will  the 
people  of  Delaware  be  less  free  if  each  citizen  has  an 
equal  vote  with  each  citizen  of  Pennsylvania  ?  The 
contest  is  for  power,  not  for  liberty. 

"No  government  can  give  us  happiness  at  home 
which  has  not  the  strength  to  make  us  respectable 
abroad.  This  is  the  critical  moment  for  forming  such 
a  government.  As  yet  we  retain  the  habits  of  union. 
We  are  weak,  and  sensible  of  our  weakness.  Our 
people  are  disposed  to  have  a  good  government ;  ^  but 
henceforward  the  motives  will  become  feebler  and 
the  difficulties  greater.  It  is  a  miracle  that  we  are 
now  here,  exercising  free  deliberation ;  it  would  be 
madness  to  trust  to  future  miracles.'  We  must  there- 
fore improve  the  opportunity,  and  render  the  present 
system  as  perfect  as  possible.  The  good  sense  of  the 
people,  and,  above  all,  the  necessity  of  their  affairs, 
will  induce  them  to  adopt  it."  * 

It  was  then  decided,  by  the  six  national  states  to 
four,  Maryland  being  divided,  that  the  rule  of  suf- 
frage in  the  first  branch  ought  to  bear  proportion  to 
the  population  of  the  several  states.  A  reversal  of 
this  decision  was  never  attempted. 

'  Gilpin,  990,  992  ;   Elliot,  256,         '  Gilpin,  995  ;  Elliot,  259. 
257  ;  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  462.  *  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  463,  464. 

»  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  463. 


62  THE    FEDEEAL    COlSTENTIOlNr. 

CHAP.       "  We  aro  partly  national,  partly  federal,"  said  Ells- 

,^^  worth,  and  lie  moved  that  in  the  second  branch  the 

1787.  YQte  should  be  taken  by  states.'     "I  am  not  sorry 

June  •'  ... 

29.  that  the  vote  just  passed  has  determined  against  this 
rule  in  the  first  branch;  I  hope  it  will  become  a 
ground  of  compromise  with  regard  to  the  second. 
On  this  middle  ground,  and  on  no  other,  can  a  com- 
promise take  place.  If  the  great  states  refuse  this 
plan,  we  shall  be  forever  separated. 

"In  the  hour  of  common  danger  we  united  as 
equals ;  is  it  just  to  depart  from  this  principle  now, 
when  the  dano;er  is  over?  The  existins:  confedera- 
tion  is  founded  on  the  equality  of  the  states  in  the 
article  of  suffrage,  and  is  declared  to  be  perpetual.'' 
Is  it  meant  to  pay  no  regard  to  this  plighted  faith  ? ' 
"We  then  associated  as  free  and  independent  states. 
To  perpetuate  that  independence,  I  wish  to  establish 
a  national  legislature,  executive,  and  judiciary;  for 
under  these  we  shall  preserve  peace  and  harmony."  * 

Abraham  Baldwin,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  a  grad- 
uate of  Yale  college,  for  four  years  one  of  its  tutors, 
a  recent  emigrant  to  Georgia,  from  which  state  he 
was  now  a  deputy,  stepped  forth  to  the  relief  of  Ells- 
worth, saying :  "  The  second  branch  ought  to  be  the 
representation  of  property,'  and  ought  not  to  be  elect- 
ed as  the  first." ' 
so.  "  If  a  muiorlty  will  have  their  own  will,  or  sep- 
arate the  union,"  said  Wilson,  "let  it  be  done.  I 
cannot  consent  that  one  fourth  shall  control  the 
power  of  three  fourtlis.     The  Connecticut  proposal 

'  Yntos  in  Elliot,  i.  4C4.  *  Y.-itcs  in  Elliot,  i.  405. 

''  Il)i<l.,  40.1.  '  Oil  pin,  nOH;  Elliot,  200. 

•  CiiJpin,  908;  Elliot,  200.  *  Yutcs  in  Elliot,  i.  4G5. 


THE    CONlSrECTICUT   COIMPEOMISE.  63 

removes  only  a  part  of  the  objection.  No  liberty  cnAP, 
can  be  obtained  without  the  state  governments ;  but  ^^^^ 
on  this  question  depend  the  essential  rights  of  the  ^j^^J" 
general  government  and  of  the  people."  *  30, 

Ellsworth  replied :  "  No  saljitary  measure  has  been 
lost  for  want  of  a  majority  of  the  states  to  favor  it." 
If  the  larger  states  seek  security,  they  have  it  fully 
in  the  iirst  branch  of  the  general  government.  But 
are  the  lesser  states  equally  secure  ?  "VVe  are  razing 
the  foundation  of  the  building,  when  we  need  only 
repair  the  roof.'  And  let  it  be  remembered  that 
these  remarks  are  not  the  result  of  partial  or  local 
views.  In  importance,  the  state  I  represent  holds  a 
middle  rank." ' 

"  If  there  was  real  danger  to  the  smaller  states," 
said  Madison,  "  I  would  give  them  defensive  weapons. 
But  there  is  none.  The  great  danger  to  our  general 
government  is,  that  the  southern  and  northern  inter- 
ests of  the  continent  are  opposed  to  each  other,  not 
from  their  difference  of  size,  but  from  climate,  and 
principally  from  the  effects  of  their  having  or  not 
having  slaves,'  Look  to  the  votes  in  congress  ;  most 
of  them  stand  divided  by  the  geography  of  the  coun- 
try,  not  by  the  size  of  the  states.'  Defensive  power 
ought  to  be  given,  not  between  the  large  and  small 
states,  but  between  the  northern  and  southern.  Cast- 
ing about  in  my  mind  for  some  expedient  that  will 
answer  this  purpose,  it  has  occurred  that  the  states 
should  be  represented  in  one  branch  according  to  the 

» Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  466,  467.  *  Gilpin,  1004;  Elliot,  264. 

"  Gilpin,  1003;  Elliot.  263.  ^  Gilpin,  1006;  Elliot,  264. 

'Gilpin,     1003;      Elliot,    263;  •  Yates  in  Elliot,  i.    466.     The 

Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  468.  date  in  Madison  is  30  June. 


64  THE   FEDEEAL    COIiTVElSrriOlS". 

CHAP,  number  of  free  inliabitants  only ;  and  in  tlie  other  ac- 
III  .  . 

cording  to  the  whole  number,  counting  the  slaves  as 

free.  The  southern  scale  would  have  the  advantao;e 
in  one  house,  and  the  northern  in  another." '  By  this 
willingness  to  recede  from  the  strict  claim  to  repre- 
sentation in  proportion  to  population  for  the  sake  of 
protecting  slavery,  Madison  stepped  from  firm  ground. 
The  aro'umeut  of  Ellsworth  dl•a^vn  from  the  faith 
plighted  to  the  smaller  states  in  the  existing  federal 
compact,  he  answered  only  by  taunts:  "The  j)arty 
claiming  from  others  an  adherence  to  a  common  en- 
gagement ought  at  least  to  be  itself  guiltless  of  its 
violation.  Of  all  the  states,  Connecticut  is  perhaps 
least  able  to  urge  this  plea." ' 

Fixing  his  eyes  on  Washington,  Ellsworth  rejoined : 
"  To  you  I  can  with  confidence  appeal  for  the  great 
exertions  of  my  state  during  the  war  in  supplying 
both  men  and  money.'  The  muster  rolls  will  show 
that  she  had  more  troops  in  the  field  than  even  the 
state  of  Virginia."  We  strained  every  nerve  to  raise 
them ;  and  we  spared  neither  money  nor  exertions  to 
complete  our  quotas.  This  extraordinaiy  exertion 
has  greatly  impoverished  us,  and  has  accumulated  our 
state  debts ;  but  we  defy  any  gentleman  to  show  that 
we  ever  refused  a  federal  requisition.  If  she  has 
proved  delinquent  through  inability  only,  it  is  not 
more  than  others  have  been  without  the  same  excuse. 
It  is  the  ardent  wish  of  the  state  to  strengthen  the 
federal  government." ' 

Davie  of  North  Carolina,  breaking  the  phalanx  of 

'  Oilpin,  1000;  Elliot,  204,  2Co.         *  Yatos  in  Elliot,  i.  409. 
«  (;ili)in,  10(15;  Elliot,  204.  »  Ibid.,  i.  409,  470. 

•  C;il])in,  1U07;  Elliot,  205. 


THE   CONl!irECTICUT    COMPEOIHSE.  65 

national  states,  preferred  tlie  proposition  of  Ellsworth  chap. 
to  the  proportional  representation,  which  would  in  ^^-^^ 
time  make  the  senate  a  multitudinous  body/     Con-  i  J  ^  7. 

*'  June 

necticut  had  won  the  day.  30. 

Startled  by  the  appearance  of  defeat,  Wilson  hastily 
offered  to  the  smallest  states  one  senator,  to  the  oth- 
ers one  for  every  hundred  thousand  souls.  This  ex- 
pedient Franklin  brushed  aside,  saying :  "  On  a  pro- 
portional representation  the  small  states  contend  that 
their  liberties  will  be  in  danger ;  with  an  equality  of 
votes,  the  large  states  say  their  money  will  be  in  dan- 
ger. A  joiner,  when  he  wants  to  fit  two  boards,  takes 
a  little  from  both." "  And  he  su2:2:ested  for  the  several 
states  a  like  number  of  delegates  to  the  senate,  with 
proportionate  votes  on  financial  subjects,  equal  votes 
on  questions  affecting  the  rights  of  the  states. 

King  inveighed  against  the  "  phantom  of  state  sov- 
ereignty : "  "  If  the  adherence  to  an  equality  of  votes 
is  unalterable,  we  are  cut  asunder  already.  My  mind 
is  prepared  for  every  event,  rather  than  to  sit  down 
under  a  government  which  must  be  as  short-lived  as 
it  would  be  unjust." ' 

Dayton  replied :  "  Assertion  for  proof  and  terror 
for  argument,  however  eloquently  spoken,  will  have 
no  effect.  It  should  have  been  shown  that  the  evils 
we  have  experienced  proceeded  from  the  equality  of 
representation." 

"The  plan  in  its  present  shape,"  said  Madison, 
"makes   the   senate   absolutely    dependent    on    the 

*  Gilpin,  1007;  Elliot,  265,  2G6;         =>  Gilpin,     1009;      Elliot,     266; 
Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  470  ;   Paterson     Yates  in  Elliot,  i.  471. 
MS.  "  Gilpin,  1010,  1011 ;  Elliot,  266, 

267. 
VOL.  n.  6 


66  THE   FEDEEAL    CONVENTION. 

CHAP,  states ;  it  is,  therefore,  only  another  edition  of  the  old 
— ^  confederation,  and  can  never  answer.   Still  I  would  pre- 
'^T^'^-  serve  the  state  rights  as  carefully  as  the  trial  by  jury.'" 
30.         Bedford  scoffed  at  Georgia,  proud  of  her  future 
greatness ;  at  South  Carolina,  puffed  up  with  wealth 
and  negroes ;  at  the  great  states,  ambitious,  dictato- 
rial, and  unworthy  of  trust ;  and  defied  them  to  dis- 
solve the  confederation,  for  ruin  would  then  stare 
them  in  the  face.' 

To  a  question  from  King,  whether  by  entering 
into  a  national  government  he  would  not  equally  pai'- 
ticipate  in  national  security,  Ellsworth  answered :  "  I 
confess  I  should;  but  a  general  government  cannot 
know  my  wants,  nor  relieve  my  distress.  I  depend 
for  domestic  happiness  as  much  on  my  state  govern- 
ment as  a  new-born  infant  depends  upon  its  mother 
for  nourishment.  If  this  is  not  an  answer,  I  have  no 
other  to  give."  ° 
July  On  the  motion  of  Ellsworth,  five  states  voted  for 
^"  equal  suffrage  in  the  senate ;  five  of  the  six  national 
states  answered.  No.  All  interest  then  centred  upon 
Georgia,  the  sixth  national  state  and  the  last  to  vote. 
Baldwin,  fearing  "a  disruption  of  the  convention,  and 
convinced  of  the  hopelessness  of  assembling  another 
under  better  auspices,  dissented  from  his  colleague, 
and  divided  the  vote  of  his  state.  So  the  motion 
was  lost  by  a  tie ;  but  as  all  believed  that  New 
Hampshire  and  Rhode  Island,  had  they  been  present, 
would  have  voted  with  Connecticut,  the  convention 
moved  ra^^idly  toward  its  inevitable  decision. 

»  Cilpin,     1012;      Elliot,    2G7;         '  Gilpin,  1012-1014;  Elliot,  268. 
YutcH  ia  Elliot,  i.  471.  *  Yutca  in  Elliot,  i.  473,  474. 

( 


TIIE    CONNECTICUT   COMPEOMISE.  67 

For  a  moment  Charles  Pinckney  made  delay  by  chap. 
calling  up  Lis  scheme  of  dividing  the  United  States  v^-v-^ 
into  northern,  middle,  and  southern  groups,  and  ap-  ^J^^*^" 
portioning  the  senators  between  the  three ;  *  a  meas-      2. 
ure  which,  with  modifications,  he  repeatedly  brought 
forward. 

Cotesworth  Pinckney  liked  better  the  motion  of 
Franklin,  and  proposed  that  a  committee  of  one  from 
each  state,  taking  into  consideration  both  branches  of 
the  legislature,  should  devise  and  report  a  compro- 
mise." "  Such  a  committee,"  said  Sherman,  "  is  neces- 
sary to  set  us  right." 

Gouvemeur  Morris,  who,  after  a  month's  absence, 
had  Just  returned,  spoke  abruptly  for  a  senate  for 
life  to  be  appointed  by  the  executive ; '  but  the  com- 
mittee was  ordered  by  a  great  majority;  and  the 
house  showed  its  own  inclination  by  selecting  Frank- 
lin, Gerry,  Ellsworth,  Yates,  Paterson,  even  Bedford 
and  Martin,  Mason,  Davie,  E-utledge,  and  Baldwin. 
To  give  them  time  for  their  task,  and  to  all  the  op- 
portunity of  celebrating  the  anniversary  of  indepen- 
dence, the  convention  adjourned  for  three  days.* 

»  Gilpin,  1017;  Elliot,  270.  »  Gilpin,  1020;  Elliot,  271. 

''  Gilpin,  1017,  1018;  Elliot,  270.         *  Gilpin,  1023,  1024;  Elliot,  273. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

TDE   ADJUSTxMENT   OF  EEPRESENTATION. 

Ox  tlie  morning  of  tlie  thii'd  of  July,  the  grand 
committee  accepted  as  a  basis  for  a  compromise  *  tlie 
proposal  of  Franklin/  tliat  in  tlie  first  branch  of  the 
first  congress  there  should  be  one  member  for  every 
forty  thousand  inhabitants,  counting  all  the  free  and 
three  fifths  of  the  rest ;  that  in  the  second  branch 
each  state  should  have  an  equal  vote ;  and  that,  in 
return  for  this  concession  to  the  small  states,  the  first 
branch  should  be  invested  with  the  sole  power  of 
originating  taxes  and  appropriations.  The  settle- 
ment of  the  rule  of  representation  for  new  states  was 
considered,  but  was  left  to  the  convention. 

"The  committee  have  exceeded  their  powers,"' 
cried  Wilson,  when  Gerry,  on  the  fifth,  delivered 
the  report  to  the  convention.  Madison  encouraged 
the  large  states  to  oj^pose  it  steadfastly.  Butler 
denounced  the  plan  as  unjust."  Gouverneur  Morris, 
delighting  to  startle  by  his  cynicism,  condemned 
alike  its  fonn  and  substance,'  addino: :  "  State  attach- 

'  Yatos  in  Elliot,  i.  478.  *  Oilpin,  1028;  Elliot,  275. 

»  Miirtin  in  Elliot,  i.  IIHR.  »  Gilpiu,  1028;  Elliot,  276. 

•Gilj.in,  102.j;  Elliot,  274. 


THE  ADJUSTMENT  OF  EEPEESENTATION.      69 

ments  and  state  importance  liave  been  the  bane  of  chap. 
the  country.  AVe  cannot  annihilate  the  serpents, 
but  we  may  perhaps  take  out  their  teeth.'  Suppose 
the  larger  states  agree,  the  smaller  states  must  come 
in.  Jersey  would  follow  the  opinions  of  New  York 
and  Pennsylvania.  If  persuasion  does  not  unite  the 
small  states  with  the  others,  the  sword  will.  The 
strongest  party  will  make  the  weaker  traitors,  and 
hang  them.  The  larger  states  are  the  most  power- 
ful ;  they  must  decide." '  Ellsworth  enforced  the  ne- 
cessity of  compromise,  and  saw  none  more  convenient 
or  reasonable  than  that  proposed  by  the  committee.' 

"  We  are  neither  the  same  nation,  nor  different  na- 
tions," said  Gerry ;  "  we  therefore  ought  not  to  pur- 
sue the  one  or  the  other  of  these  ideas  too  closely. 
Without  a  compromise  a  secession  will  take  place, 
and  the  result  no  man  can  foresee." ' 

"There  must  be  some  accommodation  on  this 
point,"  said  Mason,  "  or  we  shall  make  little  further 
progress  in  the  work.  It  cannot  be  more  inconven- 
ient to  any  gentleman  to  remain  absent  from  his  pri- 
vate affairs  than  it  is  for  me ;  but  I  will  buiy  my 
bones  in  this  city  rather  than  expose  my  country  to 
the  consequences  of  a  dissolution  of  the  convention 
without  anything  being  done."  ' 

A  throng  of  questions  on  representation  thrust 
themselves  into  the  foreground.  Gouverneur  Morris 
objected  to  the  rule  of  numbers  alone  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  representatives.  "  Not  liberty,"  said  he ; 
"  property  is  the  main  object  of  society.     The  savage 

^Gilpin,  1032:  Elliot,  377.  *  Gilpin,  1032;  Elliot,  278. 

"  Paterson  MSS.  •  Gilpin,  1033;  Elliot,  278,. 

"Gilpin,  1032;  Elliot,  278. 


70  THE   FEDERAL    COJiTVENTIO]^. 

CHAP,  state  is  more  favorable  to  liberty  tLan  tlie  civilized, 

V r^  and  was  only  renounced  for  the  sake  of  property.     A 

^  J^^  ^-  range  of  new  states  will  soon  be  formed  in  the  West. 

5.  The  rule  of  representation  ought  to  be  so  fixed  as  to 
secure  to  the  Atlantic  states  a  prevalence  in  the  na- 
tional councils."  *  Rutledge  repeated  :  "  Property  is 
certainly  the  principal  object  of  society."  "  If  num- 
bers should  be  the  rule  of  representation,  the  Atlantic 
states  will  soon  be  subjected  to  the  western."  "  If 
new  states,"  said  Mason  and  Randolph,  "  make  a  part 
of  the  union,  they  ought  to  be  subject  to  no  unfavor- 
able discriminations." ' 

6.  On  the  morning  of  the  sixth,  Gouverneur  Morris 
moved  to  refer  the  ratio  of  representation  in  the 
popular  branch  to  a  committee  of  five.^  Wilson, 
who  still  strove  to  defeat  the  compromise  between 
the  federal  and  the  national  states,  seconded  the  mo- 
tion. In  the  distribution  of  representatives,  Gorham 
thought  the  number  of  inhabitants  the  true  guide. 
"Property,"  said  King,  "is  the  primary  object  of 
society,  and  in  fixing  a  ratio,  ought  not  to  be  ex- 
cluded from  the  estimate."  *  "  Propei'ty,"  said  But- 
ler, "  is  the  only  just  measure  of  representation." ' 
To  Charles  Pinckney  the  number  of  inhabitants  ap- 
peared tlie  true  and  only  practicable  rule,'  and  he 
acquiesced  in  counting  but  three  fifths  of  the  slaves. 
The  motion  of  Morris  was  carried  by  New  Eng- 
land, Pennsylvania,  and  the  four  southernmost  slave- 
holding  states.    Gorham,  King'  and  Gouverneur  Mor- 

'  Gilpin,  1034  ;  Elliot,  278,  279.  *  Gilpin,  1038  ;  Elliot,  281. 

^  Gil|)in,  l():{r)  ;  Elliot,  27i).  "  Gilpin,  1031)  ;  Elliot,  281. 

»  (Jilpin,  10:U5  ;  Elliot.  280.  '  Ibid. 
*  GJi])in,  1037  ;  Elliot,  280. 


THE    ADJUSTMENT   OF   REPEESENTATIOlSr.  7l 

ris,  Randolpli  and  Rutledge  were  cliosen  tlie  com-  chap. 

mittee.  -— v^ 

On  tlie  seventh  the  clause  allowins;  each  state  an  ^  ?  f  '^• 

July 

equal  vote  in  the  senate  was  retained  as  part  of  the      i. 
report  by  a  majority  of  six  to  three,  New  York  being 
present  and  voting  with  the  majority,  Massachusetts 
and  Georgia  being  divided. 

The  number  and  distribution  of  the  members  of 
the  first  branch  of  the  legislature  in  the  first  congress, 
the  rule  for  every  future  congress,  the  balance  of  legis- 
lative power  between  the  South  and  the  North ;  be- 
tween the  carrying  states  which  asked  for  a  retaliatory 
navigation  act  and  the  planting  states  which  desired 
free  freight  and  free  trade ;  between  the  original  states 
and  new  ones ;  the  apportionment  of  representation 
according;:  to  numbers  or  wealth,  or  a  combination  of 
the  two ;  the  counting  of  all,  or  three  fifths,  or  none, 
of  the  slaves ;  the  equal  suffrage  in  the  senate — be- 
came the  subjects  of  motions  and  counter-motions, 
postponements  and  recalls.  To  unravel  the  tangled 
skein  it  is  necessary  to  trace  each  subject  for  itself  to 
its  preliminary  settlement. 

On  the  ninth  Gouverneur  Morris  presented  the  9. 
report  of  the  committee  of  five.  It  changed  the  dis- 
tribution of  representation  in  the  first  congress  to  the 
advantage  of  the  South ;  for  the  future,  no  one  op- 
posing except  Randolph,  it  authorized,  but  purposely 
refrained  from  enjoining,  the  legislature,  from  time  to 
time,  to  regulate  the  number  of  representatives  of 
each  state  by  its  wealth  and  the  number  of  its  in- 
habitants.* 

•  Gilpin,  1051,  1053  ;  ElUot,  287,  388. 


72  THE   FEDERAL    CONVENTIOTT. 

CHAP.  "  Tlie  report,"  said  Sherman,  "  corresponds  neitlier 
•^r^  ^yitli  any  rule  of  numbers,  nor  any  requisition  by 
^jd^"  congress;"*  and  on  his  motion   its  &st  jmragraph 

9-  was  referred  to  a  committee  of  one  member  from 
each  state/  Gouverneur  Morris  seconded  and  Ran- 
dolph approved  the  motion.'  Paterson  could  regard 
negro  slaves  in  no  light  but  as  property;  to  grant 
theii'  masters  an  increase  of  representation  for  them 
he  condemned  as  an  indirect  encouragement  of  the 
slave-trade."  Madison  revived  his  suggestion  of  a 
representation  of  fi'ee  inhabitants  in  the  popular 
branch ;  of  the  whole  number,  including  slaves,  in  the 
senate;  which,  as  the  special  guardian  of  property, 
would  rightly  be  the  protector  of  property  in  slaves.' 
"The  southern  states  are  the  richest,"  said  King,  who 
yet  sliould  have  known  that  they  were  not  so,  or  per- 
haps was  thinking  only  of  the  exports  of  the  coun- 
tiy ;  "  they  will  not  league  themselves  with  the  north- 
ern unless  some  respect  is  paid  to  their  superior 
wealth.  The  North  must  not  expect  to  receive  from 
the  connection  preferential  distinctions  in  commerce 
without  allowino;  some  advantagfe  in  return."  ' 

10-  The  committee  of  one  from  each  state  on  the  very 
next  morning  produced  their  well-considered  report. 
The  committee  of  five  had  fixed  the  number  of  rep- 
resentatives at  fifty-six ;  or  thirty  from  the  North, 
twenty-six  from  the  South ;  and  Maryland  and  Vir- 
ginia had  each  given  up  one  member  to  South  Caro- 
lina, raising  her  number  to  five.^ 

•  Gilpin,  1052  ;  Elliot,  288.  »  Gilpin,  1055  ;  Elliot,  289,  290. 
'  Klliot,  i.  197.  6  Gil))in,  105(5  ;  Elliot,  290. 
Miilpin,  1054  ;  Elliot,  288,  289.  '  Gilpin,  10U3,  1003;  Elliot,  293. 

*  GJlj)in,  1054,  1055;  Elliot,  2«9. 


TIIE   ADJUSTMENT    OF   EEPEESEISTTATIO]^.  73 

'In  the  confederacy  eacli  state  miglit  send  to  con-  chap. 
gress  as  many  as  seven  delegates,  so  that  the  whole 
number  in  congress  might  be  ninety-one.  This  num- 
ber was  adopted  for  the  new  constitution :  as  there 
were  to  be  two  branches  of  the  legislature,  two  mem- 
bers for  each  state  were  assigned  to  the  branch  rep- 
resenting the  states,  the  remaining  sixty-five  were 
assigned  to  the  popular  branch.  Thirty-five  were 
parcelled  out  to  the  North,  to  the  South  thirty.  Of 
the  new  members  for  the  South,  two  were  allotted 
to  Maryland,  one  to  Virginia,  and  one  to  Georgia. 
In  this  way  Connecticut,  North  Carolina,  and  South 
Carolina,  having  each  five  votes  in  the  popular  branch, 
retained  in  the  house  exactly  one  thirteenth  of  all 
the  votes  in  that  body,  and  so  would  hold  in  each 
branch  exactly  the  same  relative  power  as  in  the 
confederacy.  The  first  census  established  the  Justice 
of  this  relative  distribution  between  the  North  and 
the  South ;  though,  within  the  South,  Georgia  and 
South  Carolina  had  each  at  least  one  more  than  its 
share. 

The  final  division  was  approved  by  all  except  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia ;  and  these  two  favored  states 
now  opened  a  resolute  but  not  stormy  debate  to  gain 
still  more  le2;islative  streno^th.  To  this  end  Rut- 
ledge  moved  to  reduce  the  absent  state  of  New 
Hampshire  fi'om  three  to  two  members,  pleading  its 
deficiency  in  population  and  its  poverty.' 

King,  after  demonstrating  the  rights  of  New  Hamp- 
shu*e,  proceeded :  "  The  difference  of  interests  lies  not 
between  the  great  and  small  states,  but  between  the 

1  Gilpin,  1057  ;  Elliot,  290. 


74  THE   FEDEEAL    CONVENTION. 

CHIP,  soutliern  and  eastern.  For  this  reason  I  liave  been 
^^^r^  ready  to  yield  something  in  the  proportion  of  repre- 
^1V'  sentatives  for  the  security  of  the  southern.     I  am  not 

July  ,  .  "^ 

10.  averse  to  yielding  more,  but  do  not  see  how  it  can  be 
done.  They  are  brought  as  near  an  equality  as  is 
possible ;  no  principle  will  justify  giving  them  a 
majority."  '  Cotesworth  Pinckney  replied :  "  If  the 
southern  states  are  to  be  in  such  a  minority,  and  the 
regulation  of  trade  is  to  be  given  to  the  general  gov- 
ernment, they  will  be  nothing  more  than  overseers 
for  the  northern  states.  I  do  not  expect  the  south- 
em  states  to  be  raised  to  a  majority  of  the  represen- 
tatives ;  but  I  wish  them  to  have  something  like 
an  equality."  Randolph,  speaking  the  opinions  of 
Richard  Henry  Lee  and  of  Mason  as  well  as  his  own, 
announced  that  he  had  it  in  contemplation  to  require 
more  than  a  bare  majority  of  votes  for  laws  regulat- 
ing trade. 

For  reducing  New  Hampshire  none  voted  but 
South  Carolina  and  Georo-ia."     There  followed  sue- 

o 

cessive  motions  to  give  one  additional  vote  to  each  of 
the  three  southernmost  states.  They  were  all  lost ; 
that  for  Georgia  alone  gaining  the  vote  of  Virginia. 

On  that  day  Robert  Yates  and  John  Lansing,  of 
New  York,  were  on  the  floor  for  the  last  time.  The 
governor  of  their  state  had  unreservedly  declared  that 
no  good  was  to  be  expected  from  the  deliberations  at 
Philadelphia;  that  the  confederation  on  more  full 
experiment  might  be  found  to  answer  all  the  pur- 
poses of  the  union.'     The  state  which  had  borne  itself 

'  Gilpin,     1057,    1058  ;     Elliot,         '  Gilpin,  1059  ;  Elliot,  291  ;  El- 
290,  291.  Hot,  i.  198. 

•  Pcnn.  Packet,  2G  July,  1787. 


THE  ADJUSTMENT  OF  EEPEESENTATION.      75 

witli  unselfish  maofnanimity  tlirou2:li  tlie  war  of  tlie  chap. 

.  IV 

revolution  had  fallen  under  the  sway  of  factious  self- 
ishness. Yielding  to  this  influence,  Yates  and  Lan- 
sing, renouncing  the  path  to  glory  and  the  voice  of 
duty,  deserted  their  post,  leaving  to  the  South  the 
power  to  mould  the  commercial  policy  of  the  union 
at  their  will.  Hamilton,  being  left  alone,  had  no 
vote,  and  from  this  day  to  the  end  was  absent  more 
than  half  the  time,  taking  little  part  in  the  formation 
of  the  constitution. 

In  the  convention,  fi*om  its  organization  to  its  dis- 
solution, there  was  always  a  majority  of  at  least  one 
on  the  side  of  the  southern  states.  After  the  defec- 
tion of  New  York  the  proportion  remained  six  to, 
four  till  New  Hampshire  arrived. 

Slavery  in  the  United  States  was  a  transient  form, 
not  an  orifrinal  element  of  their  colonization,  nor  its 
necessary  outgrowth.  In  the  division  between  north- 
em  and  southern  states  the  criterion  was,  whether  a 
state  retained  the  power  and  the  will  by  its  own  inward 
energy  to  extricate  itself  from  slavery.  Seven  had 
abolished,  or  were  preparing  to  abolish  it.  Madison  * 
and  others  counted  the  southern  states  as  no  more  than 
five  ;  but  Delaware,  like  all  south  of  it,  gave  signs  that 
it  was  not  equal  to  the  high  endeavor  of  setting  its 
bondmen  free ;  and  its  votes  in  the  convention  prove 
that  it  was  rightly  classed  by  Dayton '  with  the  South. 
The  boundary  between  the  two  sections  was  Mason 
and  Dixon's  line.  Pennsylvania,  purely  popular, 
without  family  aristocracies  or  the  ascendency  of  any 
one  form  of  relio;ion,  first   in   aofriculture  and  com- 

1  Gilpin,  1104  ;  Elliot,  315.  "^  Gilpin,  1058  ;  Elliot,  291. 


76  THE   FEDERAL   COITVrEI^TIOIT. 

CHAP,  merce,  and  not  suqDassed  in  stip-building,  stood  mid- 
^.^-.-^^  way  between  six  northern  states  and  six  soutliem 
17  8  7.  ones,  tlie  stronghold  of  an  undivided,  inseparable  f  edr 
10.     eral  republic. 

The  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  North,  which  was 
aided  by  the  long  British  occupation  of  Boston, 
Rhode  Island,  and  New  York,  had  not  been  accom- 
plished without  a  quickening  of  conscience  on  the 
wrongfulness  of  hereditary  bondage  and  its  incon- 
sistency with  the  first  principles  of  American  polity. 
By  the  act  of  Pennsylvania  of  1780  for  the  gradual 
abolition  of  slavery,  persons  merely  sojourning  in  the 
state  were  permitted  to  retain  their  slaves  for  a  term 
of  six  months ;  delegates  in  congress  from  other  states, 
foreign  ministers  and  consuls,  as  long  as  they  con- 
tinued in  their  public  characters.  The  right  of  the 
masters  of  absconding  slaves  to  take  them  away 
remained  as  before.  But  the  recovery  of  a  slave 
through  the  intei'position  of  the  courts  was  resisted 
with  zeal  by  self-appointed  agents ;  *  and  the  south- 
ern master  sometimes  had  no  relief  but  to  seize 
the  runaway  and  bi'ing  him  back  to  bondage  by 
force. 

Abolition  and  manumission  societies  were  formed 
in  various  parts  of  the  North.  Of  one  of  these  Ham- 
ilton was  the  secretary,  with  Jay,  Duane,  and  Robert 
R.  Livingston  for  associates.  Just  at  this  time 
Franklin  Avas  elected  president  of  the  society  in 
Pennsylvania.  The  newspapers  of  all  parties  at  the 
North  teemed  with  essays  against  slavery.  Tlie  op- 
position to  it  prevailed  in  nearly  all  religious  and 

'  Dallas,  i.  179,  180  ;  ii.  234. 


THE  ADJUSTMENT  OF  REPRESENTATION.      77 

political  sects,  but  flamed  the  briglitest  among  tliose  chap. 
of  extreme  democratic  tendencies.  ^^^^ 

In  1783  deputies  from  the  yearly  meeting  of  the  ^jV- 
Quakers  were  admitted  to  the  floor '  of  congress,  and  lo. 
delivered  their  address,  entreating  that  body  to  use 
its  influence  for  the  general  abolition  of  the  slave- 
trade,  and  in  several  later  years  the  meeting  renewed 
the  petition."  The  Presbyterian  synod  which  met  at 
Philadelphia  in  the  same  week  as  the  federal  con- 
vention resolved  "  to  procure  eventually  the  final 
abolition  of  slavery  in  America."'  The  Pennsylva- 
nia Abolition  Society  adopted  a  memorial  to  the  con- 
vention to  suppress  the  slave-trade,*  though,  fi-om 
motives  of  prudence,  it  was  not  presented. 

This  conspicuous  action  at  the  North  on  the  slave- 
trade  and  slavery  might  have  baflied  every  hope  of  a 
consolidated  union  but  for  the  wide  distinction  be- 
tween those  states  that  were  least  remote  from  the  « 
West  Indies  and  those  that  lay  nearer  the  North ;  be- 
tween the  states  which  planted  indigo  and  rice  and 
those  which  cultivated  by  slave  labor  maize  and 
wheat  and  tobacco :  between  Georgia  and  South 
Carolina  which  had  ever  been  well  affected  to  the 
slave-trade,  and  the  great  slave-holding  state  to  the 
north  of  them  which  had  ^vrestled  with  England  for 
its  abolition. 

In  the  three  northernmost  of  the  southern  states 

^  Journals      of      Congress,      iv.  Friends,  20  Oct.,   1786,  and  Oct., 

289.  1789. 

'  Address     presented     8     Oct.,  '  Acts  and  Proceedings  of  the 

1783,    MS.,   at  State    Dept.,    Vol.  Synod  of  New  York  and  Phila- 

of   Remonstrances    and    Address-  delphia,  A.  d.  1787. 

es,    339;    Letter   to    R.    H.    Lee,  ^  Penn.  Packet  of  14  Feb.,  1788; 

President,   21  Jan.,    1785  ;    ibid..  Independent  Gazetteer  of  7  March, 

347.     See  the  MS.  Records  of  the  1788. 


78  THE   FEDEEAL    COITVENTIOI^. 

CHAP,  slavery  raaintained  itself,  not  as  an  element  of  pros- 

^^"  perity,  but  as  a  baleful  inheritance.  Tlie  best  of  the 
statesmen  of  Virginia,  without  regard  to  other  ques- 
tions which  divided  them,  desired  its  abolition — 
alike  Washington,  Kichard  Henry  Lee,  Jefferson, 
Randolph,  Madison,  and  Grayson.  George  Mason 
had  written  to  the  lesrislature  of  Virmnia  a2:aiust  it 
with  the  most  terrible  invectives  and  gloomiest  fore- 
bodino^s. 

This  comparative  serenity  of  judgment  in  Virginia 
was  shared,  though  not  completely,  by  North  Caro- 
lina, of  whose  population  three  parts  out  of  four 
were  free,  and  whose  upland  country  attracted  emi- 
gi'ants  by  its  fertility,  salubrity,  and  beauty. 

The  difference  between  the  two  classes  of  slave 
states  was  understood  by  themselves,  and  was  a 
guarantee  that  questions  on  slavery  would  neither 

•  inflame  nor  unite  them.  Viro;inia  and  North  Caro- 
lina  held  the  balance  of  power,  and  knew  how  to 
steer  clear  of  a  fatal  collision. 

9.  The   preliminary   distribution    of    representatives 

having  been  agreed  upon,  Gouverneur  Morris  desired 
to  leave  the  control  of  future  chano-es  to  the  national 
legislature.*  Perceiving  peril  in  confiding  so  vast  a 
discretion  to  those  who  might  be  tempted  to  keep 
to  themselves  an  undue  share  of  legislative  power, 

^^>-  Randolph,  following  the  precedent  of  1781,  insist- 
ed on  an  absolute  constitutional  requirement  of  a 
census  of  population  and  an  estimate  of  wealth,  to' 
be  taken  within  one  year  after  the  first  meeting  of 
the  legislature,  and  ever  thereafter  periodically ;  and 

'  Gilpin,  1052  ;  Elliot,  288. 


THE  ADJUSTMENT  OF  EEPEESENTATION.      79 

ttat  tlie  representation  sliould  be  aiTan<2-ed  accord-  chap. 

^  IV 

ingly.'  ^  ^  v_v~ 

Gouverneur  Morris,  supported  by  King  and  otliers,  ^  J^^  '^• 
resisted  this  "fettering  of  tlie  legislature,"  by  wliich  n. 
a  preponderance  niiglit  be  thrown  into  the  western 
scale.  In  various  debates  it  was  urged  by  Morris 
and  King  and  others  that  the  western  people  would 
in  time  outnumber  those  of  the  Atlantic  states,  while 
they  would  be  less  wealthy,  less  cultivated,  less  favor- 
able to  foreign  commerce,  and  less  willing  to  bide 
the  right  moment  for  acquiring  the  free  navigation 
of  the  lower  Mississippi ;  that  the  busy  haunts  of 
men  are  the  proper  school  for  statesmen ;  that  the 
members  from  the  back  country  are  ahvays  most 
averse  to  the  best  measures;  that,  if  the  western 
people  should  get  the  power  into  their  hands,  they 
w^ould  ruin  the  Atlantic  interests ;  and  therefore 
that,  in  every  future  legislature,  the  original  states 
should  keep  the  majority  in  their  own  hands." 

To  this  Mason  replied  :  "  A  revision  from  time  to 
time,  according  to  some  permanent  and  precise  stand- 
ard, is  essential  to  fail'  representation.  According  to 
the  present  population  of  America,  the  northern  part 
of  it  has  a  right  to  preponderate  ;  and  I  cannot  deny 
it.  But,  unless  there  shall  be  inserted  in  the  consti- 
tution some  principle  which  will  do  justice  to  the 
southern  states  hereafter,  w^hen  they  shall  have 
three  fourths  of  the  people  of  America  within  their 
limits,  I  can  neither  vote  for  the  system  here  nor 
support  it  in  my  state.  The  western  states  as  they 
arise  must  be  treated  as  equals,  or  they  will  speedily 

»  Gilpin,  1063  ;  Elliot,  293.  *  Gilpin,  1072  ;  ElHot,  298. 


80  THE   FEDEEAL    CONVENTION. 

cnAP.  revolt.     Tlie  number  of  inliabitants  is  a  sufficientlv 

IV  . 

.^^  precise  standard  of  wealtli."  * 

178  7.  "Congress,"  said  Randolph,  "Lave  pledged  the 
11.  public  faith  to  the  new  states  that  they  shall  be  ad- 
mitted on  equal  terms.  They  never  will,  they  never 
ought  to  accede  on  any  other." '  Madison  demon- 
strated that  no  distinctions  unfavorable  to  the  west- 
ern states  were  admissible,  either  in  point  of  justice 
or  policy." 

By  a  majority  of  two  to  one  the  first  legislature 
under  the  new  constitution  was  required  to  provide 
for  a  census  ;  *  a  periodical  census  ever  after  was  then 
accepted  without  a  division.  Its  period,  first  fixed 
at  fifteen  years,  after  repeated  debates,  was  reduced 
to  ten." 

Yet  an  ineradicable  dread  of  the  coming  power  of 
the  South-west  lui'ked  in  New  England,  especially  in 
14-  Massachusetts.  Only  three  days  after  the  subject 
appeared  to  have  been  definitively  disposed  of,  Gerry 
and  King  moved  that  the  representatives  of  new 
states  should  never  collectively  exceed  in  number  the 
representatives  from  such  of  the  old  thirteen  states  as 
should  accede  to  the  new  confederation."  The  motion 
came  from  New  England ;  and  from  New  England 
came  the  reply.  "  We  are  providing  for  our  poster- 
ity," said  Shemian,  who  had  helped  to  secure  to  Con- 
necticut a  magnificent  reserve  of  lands  in  northern 
Ohio.  "  Our  children  and  our  grandchildren  will  be 
as  likely  to  be  citizens  of  new  wes.tern  states  as  of 

'Gilpin,  10U5,     1000;     Elliot,  *  Gilpin,  1078  ;  Elliot,  301. 

294,  295.  »  Gilpin,  1080  ;  Elliot,  305. 

"  Gilpin,  1007  ;  Elliot.  295.  •  Gilpin,  1095  ;  Elliot,  310. 

•  Gilpin,  1073  ;  Elliot,  299. 


THE  ADJUSTMENT  OF  EEPEESENTATIOK      81 

the  old  states."  *     His  words  were  lost  upon  his  o\\ti  cnAP. 

colleagues.     The  motion  was  defeated  by  the  nar-  ^ ^ 

rowest  majority,  Massachusetts  being  sustained  by  ^'IV^ 
Connecticut,  Delaware,  and  Maryland,  against  New  i*- 
Jersey  and  the  four  southernmost  states,  Pennsyl- 
vania being  divided."  The  vote  of  Maryland  and 
Delaware  was  but  the  dying  expression  of  old  regrets 
about  the  proprietaryship  of  western  lands,  from 
which  they  had  been  excluded ;  that  of  Massachu- 
setts sprung  from  a  jealousy  which  increased  with 
the  ever-increasing  political  power  of  the  South-west. 
But  in  spite  of  renewed  murmurs  the  decision  was 
never  reversed. 

The  final  concession  on  the  representation  for  n. 
slaves  proceeded  from  North  Carolina.  AVilliamson 
accepted  for  the  permanent  basis  the  free  inhabitants 
and  three  fifths  of  all  others.'  Eandolph  agreed  to 
the  amendment.  On  the  instant  Butler  and  Cotes- 
worth  Pinckney  demanded  that  the  blacks  should  be 
counted  equally  with  the  whites." 

New  York,  New  Hampshire,  and  Rhode  Island 
not  being  on  the  floor,  the  southern  states  were  left 
with  ample  power  to  settle  the  question  as  they 
pleased.  "The  motion,"  said  Mason,  "is  favorable 
to  Virginia,  but  I  think  it  unjust.  As  slaves  are 
useful  to  the  community  at  large,  they  ought  not  to 
be  excluded  from  the  estimate  for  representation ;  I 
cannot,  however,  vote  for  them  as  equals  to  free- 
men." *  On  the  question,  Delaware  alone  joined 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia. 

»  Gilpin,  1095  ;  Elliot,  310.  *  Gilpin,  1067  ;  Elliot,  296. 

"Ibid.  ^Gilpin,    10G8,    1069;    Elliot, 

»  Gilpin,  1066  ;  Elliot,  295.  296. 

VOL.  n.  6 


82  THE   FEDERAL    COISTVENTIOI?^. 

Rutledge  next  insisted  on  proportioning  represen- 
tation periodically  according  to  wealth  as  well  as 
population.  This  was  condemned  by  Mason  as  in- 
definite and  impracticable,  leaving  to  the  legislature 
a  pretext  for  doing  nothing/  Madison  saw  no  sub- 
stantial objection  to  fixing  numbers  for  the  perpetual 
standard  of  representation.*  In  like  manner  Sher- 
man, Johnson,  Wilson,  and  Gorham  looked  upon  pop- 
ulation as  the  best  measure  of  wealth ;  and  accepted 
the  propriety  of  establishing  numbers  as  the  rule. 

King  refused  to  be  reconciled  to  any  concession 
of  representation  for  slaves.^  Gouverneur  Morris, 
always  a  hater  of  slavery,  closed  the  debate  by  say- 
ing :  "  I  am  reduced  to  the  dilemma  of  doing  injustice 
to  the  southern  states,  or  to  human  nature,  and  I 
must  do  it  to  the  former ;  I  can  never  agree  to  give 
such  encoura2:ement  to  the  slave-trade  as  w^ould  be 
given  by  allowing  them  a  representation  for  then- 
negroes."  * 

On  the  division,  those  who  insisted  on  enumerat- 
ing all  the  slaves  and  those  who  refused  to  enu- 
merate any  of  them,  as  elements  of  representation, 
partially  coalesced;  and  Connecticut,  Virginia,  and 
North  Carolina,  though  aided  by  Georgia,  were  out- 
voted by  Massachusetts,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Delaware,  Maryland,  and  South  Carolina.^ 

The  aspect .  of  affairs  at  the  adjournment  was  not 
so  dancjerous  as  it  seemed.  Virojinia  with  a  united 
delegation  liad  licr  hand  on  the  helm,  while  North 
Carolina  kept  watch  at  her  side. 

»  r.ilpin,  1071  ;  Elliot,  297.  .  *  Hilpin,  1078  ;  Elliot,  801. 

=■  Oilpin,  1074  ;  Elliot,  209.  *  Ibid. 

•Gilpin,  1070  ;  Elliot,  300. 


THE  ADJUSTMENT  OF  EEPEESENTATION.      83 

But  Gouverneur  Morris   brooded   over  the  deep  chap. 
gulf  by  wliicli  the  convention  seemed  to  him  rent  in  .^^ 
twain ;  and  rashly  undertook  to  build  a  bridge  over  ^  J  ^  ''• 
the  chasm.     To  that  end  he  proposed  the  next  morn-     12 
ing  that  taxation  should  be  in  proportion  to  repre- 
sentation/    His  motion  was   general,  extending   to 
every  branch  of  revenue. 

The  convention  was  taken  by  surprise.  South 
Carolina  scorned  to  be  driven  from  her  object  by  the 
menace  of  increased  contributions  to  the  general 
treasury ;  and  again  demanded  a  full  representation 
for  all  blacks.''  Mason  pointed  out  that  the  proposal 
of  Gouverneur  Morris  would  so  embarrass  the  legis- 
lature in  raising  a  revenue  that  they  would  be  driven 
back  to  requisitions  on  the  states.  Appalled  at  dis- 
covering that  his  motion  was  a  death-blow  to  the  new 
constitution,  Morris  limited  it  to  direct  taxation,  say- 
ing :  "  It  would  be  inapplicable  to  indirect  taxes  on 
exports  and  imports  and  consumption." '  Cotesworth 
Pinckney  took  fire  at  the  idea  of  taxing  exports. 
"Wilson  came  to  the  partial  rescue  of  Morris ;  and  the 
convention,  without  a  dissentient,  agreed  that  "  direct 
taxation  ought  to  be  in  proportion  to  representation."  * 
In  this  short  interlude,  by  the  temerity  of  one  man, 
the  United  States  were  precluded  from  deriving  an 
equitable  revenue  from  real  property.  Morris  soon 
saw  what  evil  he  had  wrought,  but  he  vainly  strove 
to  retrieve  it. 

The  moderating  states  of  the  South  grew  restless. 
"  North  Carolina,"  said  Davie,  "  -will  never  confederate 

»  Gilpin,  1079  ;  Elliot,  303.  '  Gilpin,  1080  ;  Elliot,  303. 

«  Gilpin,  1079,  1080  ;  Elliot,  303.  *  Gilpin,  1081  ;  Elliot,  303. 


84  THE   FEDERAL    CONVENTION. 

on  terms  that  do  not  rate  tlieir  blacks  at  least  as 
tliree  fifths." '     Johnson,  holding  the  negro  slave  to 
'^IV'  be  a  man,  and  nothinsr  less  than  a  man,  could  not 

July  .  . 

12.  forego  the  conclusion  "  that  blacks  equally  with  the 
whites  ought  to  fall  within  the  computation,"  and  his 
votes  conformed  to  his  scruples.  Contrary  to  the 
wishes  of  Gouverneur  Morris  and  King,  Randolph 
insisted  that  the  representation  allowed  for  slaves 
should  be  embodied  in  the  constitution,  saying :  "  I 
lament  that  such  a  species  of  property  exists ;  but,  as 
it  does  exist,  the  holders  of  it  will  requii'e  this  secu- 
rity." '  Ellsworth  seconded  Randolph,  whose  motion 
was  tempered  in  its  form  by  Wilson,  so  as  to  avoid 
the  dii^ect  mention  of  slavery  or  slave.  '^  The  south- 
ern states,"  said  King,  "  threaten  to  separate  now  in 
case  injury  shall  be  done  them.  There  will  be  no 
point  of  time  at  which  they  will  not  be  able  to  say, 
'  Do  us  justice  or  we  will  separate.'  "  The  final  motion 
to  make  blacks  equal  with  whites  in  fixing  the  ratio 
of  representation  received  no  suj^port  but  from  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia ; '  and  the  compromise,  propor- 
tioning representation  to  direct  taxation,  and  both  to 
the  number  of  the  free  and  three  fifths  of  others,  was 
established  by  the  southern  states,  even  Georgia  ap- 
proving, and  South  Carolina  relenting  so  far  as  to 
divide  its  vote." 

18.  Randolph  seized  the  ojiportunity  to  propose  num- 
bers as  the  sole  rule  of  representation.  Gouverneur 
Morris  "  stated  the  result  of  his  deep  meditation  "  : 
"  The  southern  gentlemen  will  not  be  satisfied  unless 

»  Gilpin,  1081  ;  Elliot,  802,  303.         »  Cilpin,  1084-1087  ;  Elliot,  305. 
*  Gilpin,  108:3 ;  Elliot,  30-1.  ■•  Gili)iu,  108G,  1087  ;  Elliot,  30G. 


THE   ADJUSTMENT    OF    REPKESENTATIOTT.  85 

they  see  the  way  open  to  their  gaining  a  majority  in  chap. 
the  public  councils.    The  consequence  of  such  a  trans-  c^~,-L. 
fer  of  power  fi'om  the  maritime  to  the  interior  and  ^  |  ^  '^• 
landed  interest  will,  I  foresee,  be  an  oppression  to     i3. 
commerce.     In  this  struggle  between  the  two  ends 
of  the  union,  the  middle  states  ought  to  join  their 
eastern   brethren.      If   the    southern  states   get  the 
power  into  their  hands  and  be  joined  as  they  will  be 
with  the  interior  country,  everything  is  to  be  appre- 
hended." 

By  the  interior,  Morris  had  specially  in  his  mind 
the  rising  states  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  Butler 
replied  :  "  The  southern  states  want  security  that 
theu'  negroes  may  not  be  taken  from  them,  which 
some  gentlemen  within  or  without  doors  have  a  very- 
good  mind  to  do.  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina, 
and  Georgia  will  have  relatively  many  more  people 
than  they  now  have.  The  people  and  strength  of 
America  are  evidently  bearing  to  the  South  and  South- 
west." ' 

"The  majority,"  said  Wilson,  "wherever  found, 
ought  to  govern.  The  interior  country,  should  it 
acquire  this  majority,  will  avail  itself  of  its  right 
whether  we  will  or  no.  If  numbers  be  not  a  proper 
rule,  why  is  not  some  better  rule  pointed  out  ?  Con- 
gress have  never  been  able  to  discover  a  better.  No 
state  has  suggested  any  other.  Property  is  not  the 
sole  nor  the  primary  end  of  government  and  society ; 
the  improvement  of  the  human  mind  is  the  most 
noble  object.  With  respect  to  this  and  other  per- 
sonal rights,  numbers  are  surely  the  natural  and  pre- 

»  GilpiB,  1091-1093  ;  Elliot,'  308,  309. 


86  THE   FEDEEAL    CONVET^TIOI^^. 

CHAP,  cise  measm*e  of  representation,  and  could  not  vary 
.-^^  mucli  from  tlie  precise  measure  of  proj)erty." ' 
1Y87.       The  apportionment  of  representation  to  numbers 
13.     was   adopted  without   a   negative,    Delaware   alone 
beino;  divided/     The  American  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence  proclaimed  all  men  free  and  equal;   the 
federal  convention  founded  representation  on  num- 
bers alone. 

The  equality  of  votes  of  the  states  in  the  senate 
when  reported  to  the  convention  was  resisted  by 
Wilson,  King,  and  Madison  to  the  last  as  contrary  to 
14^  justice.  On  the  other  hand,  Sherman  held  that  the 
state  governments  could  not  be  preserved  unless  they 
should  have  a  negative  in  the  general  government. 

Caleb  Strong,  a  statesman  of  consummate  pru- 
dence, from  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  a  graduate 
of  Harvard,  and  a  fit  representative  of  the  country 
people  of  Massachusetts,  lucidly  reviewed  the  case, 
and  from  the  desire  to  prevent  the  dissolution  of  the 
union  found  himself  compelled  to  vote  for  the  com- 
promise. Madison  replied  in  an  elaborate  speech, 
which  closed  with  these  words :  "  The  perpetuity 
which  an  e(j[uality  of  votes  in  the  second  branch  will 
give  to  the  preponderance  of  the  northern  against  the 
southern  scale  is  a  serious  consideration.  It  seems 
now  well  understood  that  the  real  difference  of  inter- 
ests lies,  not  between  the  large  and  small,  but  be- 
tween the  noi-tliern  and  southern  states.  The  insti- 
tution of  slaveiy  and  its  consequences  form  the  line 
of  discrimination.  Should  a  proportional  representa- 
tion take  place,  the  northern  will  still  outnumber  the 

•  Gilpin,  1093,  1094  ;  Elliot,  309.         =  Gilpin,  1094  ;  Elliot,  309. 


THE   ADJUSTMENT    OF   EEPEESENTATIOl^.  87 

other;  but  every  day  will  tend  toward  an  equilib-  chap. 

11 1  IV. 

num.  V.-V— ' 

Tlie  great  poet  of  tlie  Hellenic  race  relates  Low  ^  J  ^  '^• 
tlie  most  famed  of  its  warriors  was  lured  by  one  of  i4. 
tlie  heavenly  powers  from  the  battle-field  to  chase  a 
phantom.  Had  the  South  joined  with  the  smaller 
states  to  establish  the  suffrage  by  states  in  both 
branches  of  the  general  legislature,  it  would,  in  less 
than  ten  years,"  have  arrived  at  an  equality,  alike  in 
the  house  and  in  the  senate.  But  it  believed  that 
swarms  of  emigrants  were  about  to  throng  every 
path  to  the  South-west,  bearing  with  them  affluence 
and  power.  It  did  not  yet  know  the  dynamic  energy 
of  freedom  in  producing  wealth,  and  attracting  and 
employing  and  retaining  population.  The  equality 
of  the  vote  in  the  senate,  which  Virginia  and  South 
Carolina  vehemently  resisted,  was  to  gain  and  pre- 
serve for  the  slave-holding  states  a  balance  in  one 
branch  of  the  legislature ;  in  the  other,  where  repre- 
sentation was  apportioned  to  population,  the  supe- 
riority of  the  free  commonwealths  would  increase 
from  decade  to  decade  till  slavery  in  the  United 
States  should  be  no  more.  Shrinking  from  the  final 
vote  on  the  question,  the  house  adjourned. 

On  Monday,  the  sixteenth,  as  soon  as  tJie  con-  le. 
vention  assembled,  the  question  was  taken  on  the 
amended  report  which  included  an  equality  of  votes 
in  the  senate.'  The  six  southern  states  were  present, 
and  only  four  of  the  northern.  Four  of  the  six 
states  which  demanded   a  proportioned  representa- 

^  Giliiin,  1104 ;  Elliot,  815.  »  Gilpin,  1107;  Elliot,  316. 

*  On  the  admission   of  Tennes- 
see, 1796. 


88  THE    FEDERAL    CONVENTIOlSr. 

CRAF.  tion  stubbornly  refused  to  yield.     It  was  of  decisive 

. ^  iufluence  on  the  history  of  the  country  that  Strong 

^jV'  and  Gerry,  balancing  the  inflexible  King  and  Gor- 
is-     ham,  pledged  Massachusetts  at  least  to   neutrality. 
On  the  other  side,  Connecticut,  New  Jersey,  Dela- 
w^are,  and  Maryland  spurned  the  thought  of  surren- 
der.    The   decision  was  given  by  North  Carolina, 
which  broke  from  her  great  associates  and  gave  a 
majority  of  one  to  the  smaller  states.     More  than  ten 
years  before,  Jefferson  had  most  earnestly  proposed 
this  compromise,  seeking  to  proselyte  John  Adams, 
to  whom  he  vsn'ote :  "  The  good  whigs  will    so  far 
cede  their  opinions  for  the  sake  of  union."  *     He  heard 
with  great  joy  that  his  prophecy  had  come  to  pass." 
The  large  states   accepted  the   decision   as   final. 
17.     When,  on  the  seventeenth,  Gouverneur  Morris  pro- 
posed a  reconsideration  of  the  resolution  of  the  for- 
mer day,  no  one  would  second  his  motion. 
23  A  few  days  later  the  number  of  senators  for  each 

state  was  fixed  at  two,  and  each  of  these,  as  had 
been  proposed  by  Gerry  and  seconded  by  Sherman, 
was  personally  to  have  one  vote." 

From  the  day  when  every  doubt  of  the  right  of  the 
smaller  states  to  an  equal  vote  in  the  senate  was 
quieted,  they — so  I  received  it  from  the  lips  of  Madi- 
son, and  so  it  appears  from  the  records — exceeded 
all  others  in  zeal  for  granting  powers  to  the  general 
government.  Ellsworth  became  one  of  its  strongest 
pillars.  Paterson  of  New  Jersey  was  for  the  rest  of 
his  life  a  federalist  of  federalists. 

•Works    of   John    Adams,    ix.         'Gilpin,   1093,1185,1180;    El- 
405^07.  liot,  311,  313,  357. 

'■'  Jellerson,  ii.  329. 


CHAPTER  V. 

TUE   OUTLINE   OF    THE    CONSTITUTION    COMPLETED   AND 

EEFEIIRED. 

The  distribution  of  powers  between  tlie  general  chap. 
government  and  tlie  states  was  the  most  delicate  and 
most  difficult  task  before  the  convention.  Startled 
by  tlie  vagueness  of  language  in  tlie  Virginia  resolve, 
Sherman,  wlio  with  his  colleagues  had  prepared  a 
series  of  amendments  to  the  old  articles  of  confedera- 
tion,' proposed  the  grant  of  powers  "  to  make  laws  in 
all  cases  which  may  concern  the  common  interests  of 
the  union,  but  not  to  interfere  with  the  government 
of  the  individual  states  in  any  matters  of  internal 
police  which  respect  the  government  of  such  states 
only,  and  wherein  the  general  welfare  of  the  United 
States  is  not  concerned."'  Wilson  seconded  the 
amendment,  as  better  expressing  the  general  princi- 
ple. But,  on  scanning  its  probable  interpretation  by 
the  separate  states,  the  objection  prevailed  that  it 
would  be  construed  to  withhold  from  the  general 
government  the  authority  to  levy  direct   taxes  and 

*  Life  of  Sherman  by  Jeremiah         ""  Gilpin,  1115  ;  Elliot,  319,  320. 
Evarts,  ii.  43,  in  Lives  of  the  Signers. 


90  THE    FEDEEAL    CONVENTION. 

CHAP,  the  autliority  to  suppress  tlie  paper  money  of  the 
spates. 

Bedford  moved  to  empower  the  national  legisla- 
ture "to  legislate  for  the  general  interests  of  the 
union,  for  cases  to  which  the  states  are  separately  in- 
competent, and  for  cases  in  which  the  harmony  of  the 
United  States  might  be  interrupted  by  the  exercise 
of  individual  les-islation." '  This  Gouverneur  Morris 
gladly  seconded ;  and,  though  Eandolph  resisted,  the 
current  ran  with  such  increasins:  vehemence  for  union 
that  the  amendment  was  adopted  at  first  by  six  states, 
and  then  by  every  state  but  South  Carolina  and 
Georo-ia. 

As  to  giving  power  to  the  national  legislature  "  to 
negative  laws  passed  by  the  several  states,"  Gouver- 
neur Morris,  opposing  it  as  terrible  to  the  states,'' 
looked  where  Jeiferson  invited  Madison  to  look — to 
the  judiciary  department  to  set  aside  a  law  that  ought 
to  be  negatived/  Sherman  insisted  that  state  laws, 
contravening  the  authority  of  the  union,*  were  invalid 
and  inoperative  from  the  beginning.  Madison  put 
forth  all  his  strength  to  show  that  a  power  of  negativ- 
ing the  improper  laws  of  the  states  is  the  most  mild 
and  certain  means  of  preserving  the  harmony  of  the 
system.  He  Avas  supported  by  Massachusetts,  Vii*- 
glnia,  and  North  Carolina." 

From  the  New  Jersey  plan  it  was  taken  without 
one  dissentient,  that  the  laws  and  treaties  of  the 
United  States  sliould  be  the  supreme  law  of  the 
states,  and  bind  their  judiciaries,  anything  in  their 

»  Ciilpin,  1110  ;  Elliot,  320.  ■•  Gilpin,  1117;  Elliot,  831,  323. 

2  (iilpin,  1117;  Elliot,  321.  »  Gilpin,  1118,  1119;  Elliot,  323. 

•Gilpin,  111b;  Elliot,  321. 


OUTLINE    OF   THE    CONSTITUTION   EEFEEEED.  91 

laws   to    the    contrary   not  with  standing/     That    all  chap, 
power  not   granted   to  tlie  general  government  re-  v^-^ 
mained  with  the   states   was   the  opinion  of  every  ^!^'^- 
member  of  the  convention ;  but  they  held  it  a  work     i7. 
of  supererogation  to  place  in  the  constitution  an  ex- 
press recognition  of  the  reservation.     Thus   in  one 
half  of  a  morniuo:  the  convention  beo-an  and  ended  its 
distribution  of  power   between  the  states  and  the 
union.     The  further  development  of  the  central  gov- 
ernment brought  to  it  a  wider  scope  of  action  and 
new  ascendency  over  the  states. 

The  construction  of  the  executive  department  was 
fi'aught  with  bewildering  difficulties,  of  which  a  new 
set  rose  up  as  fast  as  the  old  ones  w^ere  overcome. 
The  convention,  though  it  devoted  many  days  in  July/ 
to  the  subject,  did  but  acquiesce  for  the  moment  in 
the  Vii'ginia  resolve,  with  which  its  deliberations  had 
yet  made  it  thoroughly  discontented. 

Mason  and  the  Pinckneys  would  have  required  a  26. 
qualification  of  landed  property  for  the  executive, 
judiciary,  and  members  of  the  national  legislature.' 
Geny  approved  securing  property  by  property  pro- 
visions. "  If  qualifications  are  proper,"  said  Gouver- 
neur  Morris,  "I  should  prefer  them  in  the  electors 
rather  than  the  elected  " ; '  and  Madison  agreed  with 
him.  "  I,"  said  Dickinson,  "  doubt  the  policy  of  in- 
terweaving into  a  republican  constitution  a  venera- 
tion for  Wealth.  A  veneration  for  poverty  and  virtue 
is  the  object  of  republican  encouragement.  ISTo  man 
of  merit  should  be  subjected  to  disabilities  in  a  re- 

>  Gilpin,  1119  ;  Elliot,  322.  =  Gilpin,  1211 ;  Elliot,  370. 

"  Gilpin,  1311,  1313;  Elliot,  370, 
371. 


92  THE    FEDERAL    COTHTENTIOIir. 

CHAP,  public  wLere  merit  is  understood  to  form  the  great 
title  to  public  trust,  honors,  and  rewards."  *  The  sub- 
ject came  repeatedly  before  the  convention ;  but  it 
never  consented  to  require  a  property  qualification  for 
any  office  in  the  general  government.  In  this  way 
no  obstruction  to  universal  suffrao-e  was  allowed  to 
conquer  a  foothold  in  the  constitution,  but  its  build- 
ers left  the  enlaro'ement  of  suifragj-e  to  time  and  fu- 
ture  lawgivers.  They  disturbed  no  more  than  was 
needed  for  the  success  of  their  work.  They  were 
not  restless  in  zeal  for  one  abstract  rule  of  theoretical 
equality  to  be  introduced  instantly  and  everywhere. 
They  were  like  the  mariner  in  mid-ocean  on  the  roll- 
ing and  tossing  deck  of  a  ship,  who  learns  how  to 
keep  his  true  course  by  watching  the  horizon  as  well 
as  the  sun.  In  leading  a  people  across  the  river  that 
divided  their  old  condition  from  the  new,  the  makers 
of  the  new  form  of  government  anchored  the  sup- 
porting boats  of  their  bridge  up  stream.  The  qualifi- 
cations of  the  electors  it  left  to  be  decided  by  the 
states,  each  for  itself. 
18  All  agreed  "  that  a  supreme  tribunal  should  be  es- 

tablished," '  and  that  the  national  legislature  should 
be  empowered  to  create  inferior  tribunals.'  By  the 
report  of  the  committee,  the  Judges  were  to  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  senate.  Gorhara,  supported  by  Gou- 
veraeur  Morris,  proposed  their  appointment  "  by  the 
executive  with  the  consent  of  the  senate  " ;  a  mode, 
he  said,  which  had  been  ratified  by  the  experience  of 
a  hundred  and  forty  years  in  Massachusetts.*     The 

Gilpin,  1213-1215  ;  Elliot,  371,         "  Oilpin,  1137;  Elliot,  331. 
872.  *  Gilpiu,  1134  ;  Elliot,  330. 

»  Gilpin,  1130;  Elliot,  328. 


OUTLINE    OF   THE    COISTSTITUTION   EEFERRED.  93 

proj)osal  was  gradually  gaining  favor;  but  for  tlie  chap. 

moment  failed  by  an  equal  division.  .--^^^ 

The  trial  of  impeacliments  of  national  officers  was  i  *?  s  7. 

.  July 

taken  from  tlie  supreme  court ;  and  then,  m  the  words  is. 
of  Madison,  its  jurisdiction  was  unanimously  made  to 
"  extend  to  all  cases  arisino;  under  the  national  laws, 
or  involving  the  national  peace  and  harmony."  '  Con- 
troversies which  began  and  ended  in  the  several  states 
were  not  to  be  removed  from  the  courts  of  the  states. 

The  convention  had  still  to  decide  how  the  new 
constitution  should  be  ratified.  "  By  the  legislatures  23. 
of  the  states,"  said  Ellsworth,  and  he  was  seconded 
by  Paterson.  "  The  legislatures  of  the  states  have  no 
power  to  ratify  it,"  said  Mason.  "  And,  if  they  had, 
it  would  be  wrong  to  refer  the  plan  to  them,  because 
succeeding  legislatures,  having  equal  authority,  could 
undo  the  acts  of  their  predecessors,  and  the  national 
government  would  stand  in  each  state  on  the  totter- 
ing foundation  of  an  act  of  assembly.  AVhither,  then, 
must  we  resort  ?  To  the  people,  with  whom  all  power 
remains  that  has  not  been  given  up  in  the  constitutions 
derived  from  them." 

"One  idea,"  said  Eandolph,  "has  pervaded  all  our 
proceedings,  that  opposition,  as  well  from  the  states 
as  from  individuals,  will  be  made  to  the  system  to  be 
proposed.  AVill  it  not,  then,  be  highly  imprudent  to 
furnish  any  unnecessary  pretext  by  the  mode  of  rati- 
fying it?  The  consideration  of  this  subject  should 
be  transferred  from  the  legislatures,  where  local  dema- 
gogues have  their  full  influence,  to  a  field  in  which 
their  efforts  can  be  less  mischievous.    Moreover,  some 

'  Gilpin,  1138  ;  Elliot,  333. 


94  THE    FEDEEAL    CONVENTIOlSr. 

CHAP,  of  tLe  states  are  averse  to  any  change  in  tlieir  consti- 
.__^  tution,  and  will  not  take  tlie  requisite  steps  unless 
17  8  7.  expressly  called  upon  to  refer  tlie  question  to  tlie 
23.     people."  * 

"  The  confederation,"  said  Gerry,  "  is  paramount  to 
the  state  constitutions ;  and  its  last  article  authorizes 
alterations  only  by  the  unanimous  concurrence  of  the 
states."  "  Are  all  the  states,"  replied  his  colleague 
Gorham,  "  to  suffer  themselves  to  be  ruined,  if  Rhode 
Island,  if  New  York,  should  persist  in  opposition  to 
general  measures  ?  Provision  ought  to  l^e  made  for 
giving  effect  to  the  system,  without  waiting  for  the 
unanimous  concurrence  of  the  states."  "^ 

"A  new  set  of  ideas,"  said  Ellsworth,  "seems  to 
have  crept  in  since  the  articles  of  confederation  were 
established.  Conventions  of  the  people,  with  power 
derived  expressly  from  the  people,  were  not  then 
thought  of," "  "  A  reference  to  the  authority  of  the 
people  expressly  delegated  to  conventions,"  insisted 
King,  "  is  most  likely  to  draw  forth  the  best  men  in 
the  states  to  decide  on  the  new  constitution,  and  to 
obviate  disputes  concerning  its  validity."  * 

Madison  spoke  with  intense  earnestness.  "The 
difference  between  a  system  founded  on  the  legisla- 
tures only  and  one  founded  on  the  people  is  the  dif- 
ference between  a  treaty  and  a  constitution.  A  law 
violating  a  treaty,  ratified  by  a  pre-existing  law,  might 
be  respected  by  tlie  judges ;  a  law  violating  a  consti- 
tution established  by  the  people  themselves  would 
be  considered  by  the  judges  as  hull  and  void.     A 

»  Gilpin,  1177-1179  ;  Elliot,  352;         »  Gilpin,  1181  ;  Elliot,  354. 
353.  *  Gilpin,  1182,  1183  ;  Elliot,  355. 

''  Gilpin,  1180  ;  Elliot,  353,  854. 


OUTLES'E    OF   TIIE    CONSTITUTION   EEFEREED.  95 

breach  of  any  one  article  of  a  treaty  by  any  one  of  chap. 
the  parties  frees  the  other  parties  from  their  engage-  v-^-^1^ 
ments  ;  a  union  of  the  people,  under  one  constitution,  i  "^  s  '?• 

,  .  .  July 

by  its  nature  excludes  such  an  interpretation."  *  23. 

After  a  full  debate,  the  convention,  by  nine  states 
against  Delaware,  referred  the  ratification  of  the  new 
constitution  to  an  assembly  in  each  state  to  be  chosen 
specially  for  that  purpose  by  the  people/ 

The  proceedings  of  the  federal  convention  for  the  24-26. 
establishment  of  a  national  government,  consisting  of 
twenty-three  resolutions,  were  referred  to  a  committee 
of  detail,  five  in  number,  who  were  ordered  to  pre- 
pare and  report  them  in  the  form  of  a  constitution. 
With  them  were  referred  the  propositions  of  Charles 
Pinckney  and  the  plan  of  New  Jersey. 

The  federal  convention  selected  for  its  committee 
of  detail  three  members  fi^om  the  North  and  two 
fi'om  the  South — Gorham,  Ellsworth,  Wilson,  Ran- 
dolph, and  Rutledge,  of  whom  the  last  was  the  chair- 
man. By  ancestry  Scotch-Irish,  in  early  youth  care- 
fully, but  privately,  educated,  afterward  a  student  of 
law  in  the  Temple  at  London,  Rutledge  became  the 
foremost  statesman  of  his  time  south  of  Virginia.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-six  he  began  his  national  career  in 
the  stamp  act  congress  of  1765,  and  from  that  time 
was  employed  by  his  state  wherever  the  aspect  of 
affairs  was  the  gravest.  Patrick  Henry  pronounced 
him  the  most  eloquent  man  in  the  congress  of  1774 ; 
his  sincerity  gave  force  to  his  words.  In  the  darkest 
hours  he  was  intrepid,  hopeful,  inventive  of  resources, 

'  Gilpin,  1183,  1184  ;  Elliot,  355,         '  Gilpin,  1185  ;  ElUot,  356. 
356. 


96  THE    FEDEEAL    CONVENTIOI^. 

CHAP,  and  resolute,    so  tliat  timidity  and  wavering  disap- 

._^  peared  before   him.      To  the  day  when  disease  im- 

1  "^  8  7.  paired  his  powers  he  was,  in  war  and  in  peace,  the 

2i-26.  pride  of  South  Carolina.     That  state  could  not  have 

selected  an  abler  representative  of  its  policy  on  the 

payment  of  the  members  of  the  national  legislature 

from  the  treasuries  of  the  states,  on  the  slave-trade, 

the  taxation  of  exports,  and  the  requisition  of  more 

than  a  bare  majority  of  the  legislature  to  counteract 

European  restrictions  on  navigation. 

Of  his  associates,  Gorham  was  a  merchant  of  Bos- 
ton, who  from  his  own  experience  understood  the 
commercial  relations  of  his  country,  and  knew  where 
the  restrictive  laws  of  England,  of  France,  and  of 
Spain  injured  American  trade  and  shipping.  Ells- 
worth, who  had  just  established  harmony  between 
the  small  and  the  larger  states  by  a  wise  and  happy 
compromise,  now  found  himself  the  umpire  between 
the  extreme  South  and  the  North. 

Cotesworth  Pinckney  called  to  mind  that  if  the 
committee  should  fail  to  insert  some  security  to  the 
southern  states  against  an  emancipation  of  slaves, 
and  against  taxes  on  exports,  he  should  be  bound 
by  duty  to  his  state  to  vote  against  their  re- 
port.' After  this  the  convention,  on  the  twenty- 
sixth  of  July,  unanimously  adjourned  till  Monday, 
the  sixtli  of  August,  Ijiat  the  committee  of  detail 
might  have  time  to  prepare  and  report  the  constitu- 
tion.'' 
2f5-  Tlie  committee  in  joint  consultation  gave  their 
"y""*  unremitting  attention  to  every  (piestion  that  came  be- 

'  Gilpin,  lib?  ;  Elliot,  357.  '  Gilpin,  1220  ;  Elliot,  374,  375. 


OUTLINE    OF   THE    CONSTITUTION    EEFEERED.  97 

fore  them.*     Tlieir  best  p-uides  were  tlie  constitutions  chap. 
of  tlie  several  states,  whicli  furnislied  most  striking  >— ^ 
expressions,  and  regulations  apj)roved  by  long  expe-  ■" !  ^  '^• 
rience.     There  is  neither  record  nor  personal  narrative     26- 
of  their  proceedings,  though  they  were  invested  with     "f."^ 
the  largest  constructive  powers ;  but  the  conduct  of 
its  several  members  may  be  determined  by  light  re- 
flected from  their  own  words  and  actions  before  and 
after.     Meanwhile   the  interest   and   anxiety  of  the 
country  were  on  the  increase.     "  If  what  the  conven- 
tion recommend  should  be  rejected,"  so  wTote  Mon- 
roe to  Jefferson  the  day  after  the  adjournment,  "  they 
will  complete  our  ruin.     But  I  trust  that  the  pres- 
ence of  General  Washington  will  overawe  and  keep 
under  the  demon  of  party,  and  that  the  signature  of 
his  name  to  the  result  of  their  deliberations  will  se- 
cure its  passage  through  the  Union."     "  The  weight 
of  General  Washington  is  very  great  in  America," 
wrote  Grayson  to  Monroe,   "but  I  hardly  think  it 
sufficient  to  induce  the  people  to  pay  money  or  part 
with  power." ' 

>  Wilson  in  Gilpin,  1249  ;  Elliot,         ^Grayson  to  Monroe,   29   Maj, 
885,  and  Rutledge  in  Gilpin,  1384 ;     1787.     MS. 
Elliot,  403. 

VOL.   II.  7 


CHAPTER  Yl. 

THE   COLONIAL  SYSTEM  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

CHAP.  Befoee  tlie  federal  convention  had  referred  its 
S--V-—  resolutions  to  a  committee  of  detail,  an  interlude  in 
congress  was  shaping  tlie  character  and  destiny  of  the 
United  States  of  America.  Sublime  and  humane  and 
eventful  in  the  history  of  mankind  as  was  the  result, 
it  will  take  not  many  words  to  tell  how  it  was 
brought  about.  For  a  time  wisdom  and  peace  and 
justice  dwelt  among  men,  and  the  great  ordinance, 
which  could  alone  give  continuance  to  the  union, 
came  in  serenity  and  stillness.  Every  man  that  had 
a  share  in  it  seemed  to  be  led  by  an  invisible  hand  to 
do  just  ^vhat  was  wanted  of  him ;  all  that  was  wrong- 
fully undertaken  fell  to  the  ground  to  wither  by  the 
wayside ;  whatever  was  needed  for  the  haj^py  com- 
pletion of  tlie  mighty  work  arrived  opportunely,  and 
just  at  the  right  moment  moved  into  its  place. 

By  the  order  of  congress  a  treaty  was  to  be  held 
in  January,  1780,  witli  the  Shawnees,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Great  Miami.  Monroe,  wlio  had  been  present  as 
a  spectator  at  the  meeting  of  the  United  States  com- 


COLONIAL   SYSTEM    OF   TIIE   UNITED    STATES.  99 

missioners  witli  tlie  representatives  of  tlie  Six  Na-  cnAP. 
tions  at  Fort  Stanwix,  in  1784,  desired  to  attend  this  v.,-,-^ 
meeting  with  a  remoter  tribe.  He  reached  Fort  Pitt, 
and  with  some  of  the  American  party  began  the  de- 
scent of  the  Ohio ;  but,  from  the  low  state  of  the  wa- 
ter, he  abandoned  the  expedition  at  Limestone,  and 
made  his  way  to  Richmond  through  Kentucky  and 
the  wilderness.  As  the  result  of  his  enquiries  on  the 
journey,  he  took  with  him  to  congress  the  opinion 
that  a  great  part  of  the  western  territory,  especially 
that  near  Lakes  Michigan  and  Erie,  was  miserably 
poor ;  that  the  land  on  the  Mississippi  and  the  Illi- 
nois consisted  of  extensive  plains  which  had  not  a 
single  bush  on  them,  and  would  not  have  for  ages ; 
that  the  western  settlers,  in  many  of  the  most  im- 
portant objects  of  a  federal  government,  would  be 
either  opposed  to  the  interests  of  the  old  states  or 
but  little  connected  with  them.  He  disapproved  the 
formation  of  more  than  five  states  in  the  temtory ; 
but  he  adhered  to  the  principle  of  Jefferson,  that  they 
ought  as  soon  as  possible  to  take  part  in  governing 
themselves,  and  at  an  early  day  share  "  the  sovereign- 
ty, freedom,  and  independence  "  of  the  other  states  of 
the  confederacy. 

In  the  course  of  the  winter  the  subject  of  the  di- 
vision of  the  western  territory  into  states  was,  on  the 
motion  of  Monroe,  referred  to  a  grand  committee.  Its 
report,  which  was  presented  on  the  twenty -fourth  of 
March,  traced  the  division  of  the  territory  into  ten 
states  to  the  resolution  of  congress  of  September, 
1780,  by  which  no  one  was  to  contain  less  territory 
than  one  hundred  nor  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 


100  THE   FEDEEAL    CONVElS^TIOlSr. 

CHAP,  miles  square.  This  resolution  liad  controlled  tlie  or- 
. — r^  dinance  of  April,  1784;  and  as  the  first  step  toward 
a  reform,  every  part  of  that  ordinance  which  con- 
flicted with  the  powder  of  congress  to  divide  the  terri- 
tory into  states  according  to  its  own  discretion  w^as  to 
be  repealed/ 

In  a  further  rej)ort  it  w^as  found  that  Virginia  had 
embodied  the  resolve  of  congress  of  September,  1780, 
into  its  cession  of  its  claims  to  the  land  north-west 
of  the  Ohio.  It,  therefore,  proposed  that  Virginia 
should  be  asked  to  revise  its  act  of  cession.'' 

At  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  Dane  made  a  suc- 
cessful motion  to  raise  a  committee  for  considering 
and  reporting  the  foi-m  of  a  temporary  government 
for  the  western  states.'  Its  chaii'man  was  Monroe, 
with  Johnson  and  Kins;  of  New  En2:land,  John  Kean 
and  Charles  Pinckney  of  South  Carolina,  as  his  asso- 
ciates. On  the  tenth  of  May  this  committee  read 
their  report.  It  asked  the  consent  of  Virginia  to  a 
division  of  the  territory  into  not  less  than  two  nor 
more  than  five  states ;  presented  a  plan  for  their  tem- 
porary colonial  government ;  and  promised  them  ad- 
mission into  the  confederacy  on  the  principle  of  the 
ordinance  of  Jefferson.  Not  one  word  was  said  of  a 
restriction  on  slavery.     No  man   liked   better  than 

*  This  first  report  of  the  grand  xxx.   79  and  followinj?,  of  Papers 

committee  is  found  in  Reports  of  of  Old  Congress  ;    but  it   has  no 

Committees,   Papers  of   Old  Con-  endorsement  as  to  the  time  when 

gress,    xxx.    75,  in  the  State  Dc-  it  Avas  entered,  read,  or  considered. 

]tartment,  and  is  endorsed  as  hav-  '  The  day  on  Avhich  this  motion 

ing   l)een    "read    24th  of  March,  was  made  is  not  given,  nor  is  the 

1780,  to  be  considered  Thursday,  motion  entered  in  the  .Journal.     It 

Mareh  IJOth."  was   probably    in   A])ril.     We  get 

■•'  This  second  report  of  the  grand  tlie  fact  from  i)age  85  of  vol.  xxx. 

committee  is  found  likewise  in  vol.  of  the  Papers  of  the  Old  Congress. 


COLONIAL   SYSTEM    OF   THE   imiTED    STAllSS.       101 

Monroe  to  lean  for  support  on  tlie  minds  and  thoughts  chap. 
of  others.  He  loved  to  spread  his  sails  to  a  favoring  .^^ 
breeze,  but  in  threatening  weather  preferred  quiet 
under  the  shelter  of  his  friends.  When  Jefferson,  in 
1784,  moved  a  restriction  on  slavery  in  the  western 
country  from  Florida  to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods, 
Monroe  was  ill  enough  to  be  out  of  the  way  at  the 
division.  When  King  in  the  following  year  revived 
the  question,  he  was  again  absent  at  the  vote ;  now, 
when  the  same  subject  challenged  his  attention,  he 
was  equally  silent. 

At  first  Monroe  flattered  himself  that  his  report 
was  generally  approved ;  *  but  no  step  was  taken 
toward  its  adoption.  All  that  was  done  lastingly 
for  the  West  by  this  congress  was  the  fruit  of  inde- 
pendent movements.  On  the  twelfth  of  May,  at  the 
motion  of  Grayson  seconded  by  King,  the  navigable 
waters  leading  into  the  Mississippi  and  the  St.  Law- 
rence, and  the  carrying  places  between  them,  were 
declared  to  be  common  highways,  forever  free  to  all 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  without  any  tax,  im- 
post, or  duty. 

The  assembly  of  Connecticut,  which  in  the  same 
month  held  a  session,  was  resolved  on  opening  a  land 
office  for  the  sale  of  six  millions  of  acres  west  of 
the  Pennsylvania  line  which  their  state  had  reserved 
in  its  cession  of  all  further  claims  by  charter  to  west- 
ern lands.  The  reservation  was  not  excessive  in  ex- 
tent ;  the  right  of  Connecticut  under  its  charter  had 
been  taken  away  by  an  act  of  the  British  parliament 
of  which  America  had  always  denied  the  validity. 

'  Monroe  to  JeSerson,  New  York,  11  May,  1786.     MS. 


102  THE  FEDERAL  CONVENTION. 

CHAP.  The  federal  constitution  had  provided  no  mode  of 
v^v— '  settling  a  stiife  between  a  state  and  the  United  States ; 
a  war  would  cost  more  than  the  land  was  worth.* 
Grayson  ceased  his  opposition ;  and  on  the  foui'teenth 
of  the  following  September  congress  accepted  the 
deed  of  cession  by  which  Connecticut  was  confiimed 
in  the  possession  of  what  was  called  her  "western 
resei've."  The  compact  establishment  of  the  culture 
of  New  Eno;land  in  that  district  had  the  most  benefi- 
cent  effect  on  the  character  of  Ohio  and  the  develop- 
ment of  the  union. 

For  diminishing  the  number  of  the  states  to  be 
formed  out  of  the  western  territory,  Moni'oe  might 
hope  for  a  favorable  hearing.  At  his  instance  the 
subject  was  refeiTcd  to  a  grand  committee,  which  on 
the  seventh  of  July  reported  in  favor  of  obtaining 
the  assent  of  Virginia  to  the  division  of  the  territory 
north-west  of  the  Ohio  into  not  less  than  two  nor 
more  than  five  states. 

With  singular  liberality  Grayson  proposed  to  divide 
the  country  at  once  into  not  less  than  five  states.  He 
would  run  a  line  east  and  west  so  as  to  touch  the 
most  southern  part  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  from  that 
line  draw  one  meridian  line  to  the  western  side  of  the 
mouth  of  the  AVabash,  and  another  to  the  Avestern 
side  of  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Miami,  making  three 
states  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  western  lines 
of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania.  The  peninsula  of 
Michigan  was  to  form  a  fourth  state ;  the  fifth  would 
absorb  the  country  between  Lake  Michigan,  Lake 
Superior,    and   the   line   of  water   to   the   northern 

*  Grayson  to  Madison,  28  Muy,  178G. 


COLONIAL    SYSTEM    OF   THE   TJlSnTED    STATES.       103 

boundary  iu  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  on  the  one  side  chap. 
and  the  Mississij^pi  on  the  other.  This  division,  so  ^^-r-i^ 
unfavorable  to  southern  influence,  was  voted  for  by 
Maryland,  A'^irginia,  North  Carolina,  and  Georgia, 
South  Carolina  being  divided ;  the  North  did  not 
give  one  state  in  its  favor ;  and  the  motion  was  lost. 
It  was  then  agreed  that  the  district  should  ultimately 
be  divided  at  least  into  three  states ;  the  states  and 
individuals  being  unanimous,  except  that  Grayson 
adhered  to  his  preference  of  five.* 

The  cause  which  arrested  the  progi'ess  of  the  ordi- 
nance of  Mom'oe  was  a  jealousy  of  the  political  power 
of  the  western  states,  and  a  prevailing  desire  to  im- 
pede their  admission  into  the  union.  For  himself 
he  remained  on  this  point  true  to  the  principle  of 
Jefferson ;  to  whom  he  explained  with  accurate 
foresight  the  policy  toward  which  congress  was 
drifting;. 

When  the  inhabitants  of  the  Kaskaskias  presented 
a  petition  for  the  organization  of  a  government  over 
their  district,  Monroe  took  part  in  the  answer,  that 
congress  had  under  consideration  the  plan  of  a  tem- 
porary government  for  their  district,  in  which  it 
would  manifest  a  due  regard  to  theii*  interest.""  This 
is  the  last  act  of  congress  relating  to  the  West  in 
which  Monroe  participated.  With  the  first  Monday 
of  the  coming  November  the  rule  of  rotation  would 
exclude  him  from  congress. 

Durino;  the  summer  Kean  was  absent  from  con-  1 7  s  a 
gress,  and  his  place  on  the  committee  was  taken  by 

*  Journals  of  Congress,  iv.  6C3,         -  Journals  of  Congress,  iv.  688, 
663.  689. 


104  THE  FEDERAL  CONVENTION. 

CHAP.  Melanctlion  Smith/  of  'New  York.     In  September 

.^ r^  Monroe  and  King  went  on  a  mission  from  congress 

i*^^^-  to  tlie  legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  and  their  places 
were  filled  by  Henry  of  Maryland  and  Dane.  The 
committee  with  its  new  members  rej)resented  the 
ruling  sentiment  of  the  house ;  and  its  report,  which 
was  made  on  the  nineteenth  of  September,  required 
of  a  western  state  before  its  admission  into  the  union 
a  population  equal  to  one  thirteenth  part  of  the  citi- 
zens of  the  thirteen  original  states  according  to  the 
last  preceding  enumeration.  Had  this  report  been 
adopted,  and  had  the  decennial  census  of  the  popula- 
tion of  teri'itories  and  states  alone  furnished  the  rule, 
Ohio  must  have  waited  twenty  years  longer  for  ad- 
mission into  the  union ;  Indiana  would  have  been 
received  only  after  1850;  Illinois  only  after  1860; 
Michigan  could  not  have  asked  admittance  till  after 
the  census  of  1880 ;  and  AYisconsin  must  still  have 
remained,  and  hopelessly,  a  colonial  dependency. 
Sept.  The  last  day  of  September,  1786,  was  given  to  the 
^^'     consideration  of  the  report ;  but  before  anything  was 

decided  the  seventh  congress  expired. 
Nov.  The  new  congress,  to  which  Madison  and  Richard 
Henry  Lee,  as  well  as  Grayson  and  Edward  Carring 
1 7  8  "7.  ton,  were  sent  by  Virginia,  had  no  quorum  till  Feb 
ruary,  1787,  and  then  was  occupied  with  preparations 
for  the  federal  convention  and  with  the  late  insurrec 
tion  in  Massachusetts.  But  the  necessity  of  provid 
ing  for  a  territorial  government  was  urgent;  and 
near  the  end  of  April  the  committee  of  the  late  con 

*  Tlio  name  of  Smitli  aH  one  of  the  committee  occurs  in  Aug.,  1786, 
Jouruals  of  Congress,  iv.  G88. 


COLONIAL    SYSTEM    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.       105 

gress  revived  its  2">roject  of  the  preceding  September,  chap. 

On  tlie  ninth  of  May  it  was  read  a  second  time  ;  the  . ^. 

clause  which  would  have  indefinitely  delayed  the  ^'^^'^• 
admission  of  a  western  state  was  cancelled ; '  a  new 
draft  of  the  bill  as  amended  was  directed  to  be  tran- 
scribed, and  its  third  reading  was  made  the  order  of 
the  next  day,"  when  of  a  sudden  the  further  progress 
of  the  ordinance  was  arrested. 

Kufus  Putnam,  of  Worcester  County,  Massachu-  iisz 
setts,  who  had  drawn  to  himself  the  friendly  es- 
teem of  the  commander-in-chief,  and  before  the  break- 
ing up  of  the  army  received  the  commission  of 
brigadier-general,  was  foremost  in  promoting  a  peti- 
tion to  congress  of  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  revolu- 
tion for  leave  to  plant  a  colony  of  the  veterans  of  the 
aiTiiy  between  Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio,  in  townships 
of  six  miles  square,  with  large  reservations  "for  the 
ministry  and  schools."  For  himself  and  his  associates  June 
he  entreated  Washington  to  represent  to  congress  the 
strength  of  the  grounds  on  which  their  j^etition  rested." 
Their  unpaid  services  in  the  war  had  saved  the  inde- 
pendence and  the  unity  of  the  land ;  their  settlement 
would  protect  the  frontiers  of  the  old  states  against 
alarms  of  the  savages  ;  their  power  would  give  safety 
along  the  boundary  line  on  the  north ;  under  their 
shelter  the  endless  procession  of  emigrants  would 
take  up  its  march  to  fill  the  country  from  Lake  Erie 
to  the  Ohio. 

With  congress  while  it  was  at  Princeton,  and  again 

*  This  appears  from  the  erasures  '  S.  P.  Hildrcth,  Pioneer  Set- 
on  the  printed  bill,  which  is  still  tiers  of  Ohio,  88.  Walker,  29. 
preserved.  Letter  of  Rufus  Putnam,  16  June, 

^  Journals  of  Congress,  iv.  747.  1783. 


106  THE   FEDEEAL    CONVENTIOIS'. 

CHAP,  after  its  adjournment  to  Annapolis,  Washington  ex- 
— .-^  erted  every  power  of  wliicli  lie  was  master  to  bring 
^T^^-  about  a  speedy  decision.  The  members  with  whom 
he  conversed  acquiesced  in  the  reasonableness  of  the 
j)etition  and  aj)proved  its  policy,  but  they  excused 
their  inertness  by  the  want  of  a  cession  of  the  north- 
western lands. 
ITS  4.  "When  in  March,  1784,  the  lands  were  ceded  by 
^^<=  •  Vii'ginia,  Rufus  Putnam  again  appeals  to  AYashing- 
ton :  "  You  are  sensible  of  the  necessity  as  well  as  the 
possibility  of  both  officers  and  soldiers  fixing  them- 
selves in  business  somewhere  as  soon  as  possible ; 
many  of  them  are  unable  to  lie  long  on  their  oars ; " 
17  8  5.  but  congress  did  not  mind  the  spur.  In  the  next 
year,  under  the  land  ordinance  of  Grayson,  Rufus 
Putnam  was  elected  a  surveyor  of  land  in  the  west- 
ern territory  for  Massachusetts;  and  on  his  declin- 
ing the  service,  another  brigadier- general,  Benjamin 
Tupper,  of  Chesterfield,  in  the  same  state,  was  ap- 
pointed in  his  stead.^  Tupper  repau^ed  to  the  West 
to  superintend  the  work  confided  to  him ;  but  disor- 
derly Indians  prevented  the  survey ;  without  having 
advanced  farther  west  than  Pittsburo-h,  he  returned 
home ;  and,  like  almost  every  one  who  caught  glimpses 
of  the  West,  he  returned  with  a  mind  filled  with  the 
brightness  of  its  promise. 

Toward  the  end  of  1785,  Samuel  Ilolden  Parsons, 
the  son  of  a  clergyman  in  Lyme,  Connecticut,  a  gradu- 
ate of  Harvard,  an  early  and  a  ^vise  and  resolute 
patriot,  in  the  ^var  a  brigadier-general  of  tlie  regular 
army,  travelled  to  the  AYest  on  public  business,  de- 

'  Jouruals  of  Congress,  iv.  520,  527,  547. 


COLONIAL  SYSTEM  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.   107 

scended   the  Oliio  as   far   as  its   falls,  and,  full  of  chap. 

VI 

tlie  idea  of  a  settlement  m  tLat  western  country,  — ,-^ 
wi'ote,  before  tlie  year  went  out,  that  on  Lis  way  i  "i"  s  s. 
lie  liad  seen  no  place  wliicli  pleased  him  so  much 
for    a   settlement   as   the   country   on   the   Muskin- 
gum.' 

In  the  treaty  at  Fort  Stanwix,  in   1784,  the  Six  n8  4. 
Nations  renounced  to  the  United  States  all  claims  to 
the  country  west  of  the  Ohio.     A  treaty  of  January, 
1785,  with  the  Wyandotte,  Delaware,  Chippewa,  and  i78  5. 
Ottawa  nations,  released  the  country  east  of  the  Cuy- 
ahoga, and  all  the  lands  on  the  Ohio,  south  of  the 
line  of  portages  from  that  river  to  the  Great  Miami 
and  the  Maumee.     On  the  last  day  of  January,  1786,  iTse. 
George  Rogers  Clark,  the  conqueror  of  the  North-     yi.' 
west,  Richard  Butler,  late  a  colonel  in  the  army,  and 
Samuel  Holden  Parsons,  acting  under  commissions 
from  the   United  States,  met  the  Shawnees  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Great  Miami,  and  concluded  with  them 
a  treaty  by  which  they  acknowledged  the  sovereignty 
of  the  United  States  over  all  their  territory  as  de- 
scribed in  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Great  Britain,  i  v  g  7. 
and  for  themselves  renounced  all  claim  to  property 
in  any  land  east  of  the  main  branch  of  the  Great 
Miami.'     In  this  way  the  Indian  title  to  southern 
Ohio,  and  all  Ohio  to  the  east  of  the  Cuyahoga,  was 
quieted. 

Six  days  before  the  signature  of  the  treaty  with    jau. 
the  Sha^vnees,  Rufus  Putnam  and  Benjamin  Tupper, 
after  a  careful  consultation  at  the  house  of  Putnam, 

*  William   Frederick    Poole    iu         ^  U.   S.   Statutes   at  Large,   vii. 
K  A.  Eeview,  liii.  331.  .  15,  lG-18,  20. 


108  TIIE   FEDERAL    CONVENTION 

CHAP,  in  Rutland,  publislied  in  tlie  newspapers  of  Massa- 
V— .,-L,  cliusetts  an  invitation  to  form  "  the  Ohio  Company " 
178  7.  fop  purchasing  and  colonizing  a  large  tract  of  land 
between  the  Ohio  and  Lake  Erie.  The  men  chiefly 
engaged  in  this  enterprise  were  husbandmen  of  New 
England,  nurtured  in  its  schools  and  churches,  labo- 
rious and  methodical,  patriots  who  had  been  further 
trained  in  a  seven  years'  war  for  freedom.  Have 
these  men  the  creative  power  to  plant  a  common- 
wealth? And  is  a  republic  the  government  under 
which  political  organization  for  great  ends  is  the  most 
easy  and  the  most  perfect  ? 

To  bring  the  Ohio  company  into  formal  existence, 
all  persons  in  Massachusetts  who  wished  to  promote 
the  scheme  were  invited  to  meet  in  their  respective 
counties  on  Wednesday,  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  next 
Feb.  Februar}^,  and  choose  delegates  to  meet  in  Boston  on 
March.  Wednesday,  the  first  day  of  March,  1786,  at  ten  of 
the  clock,  then  and  there  to  consider  and  determine 
on  a  general  plan  of  association  for  the  company. 
On  the  appointed  day  and  hour,  representatives  of 
eight  counties  of  Massachusetts  came  together ;  among 
others,  from  Worcester  county,  Rufus  Putnam ;  from 
Suffolk,  AVinthrop  Sargent;  from  Essex,  Manasseh 
Cutler,  lately  a  chaplain  in  the  army,  then  minister  at 
Ipswich;  from  Middlesex,  John  Brooks;  from  Hamp- 
sliire,  Benjamin  Tupper.  Rufus  Putnam  was  chosen 
chairman  of  the  meeting,  Winthrop  Sargent  its  secre 
tary.  On  the  third  of  IMarch,  Putnam,  Cutler,  Brooks 
Sargent,  and  Cushing,  its  regularly  appointed  com 
mittee,  re})orted  an  association  of  a  thousand  shares, 
each  of  one  thousand  dollars  in  continental  certifi' 


COLOJS'IAL    SYSTEM    OF   THE   r]N^ITED    STATES.       109 

cates,  wliicli  were  then  tlie  equivalent  of  one  hundred  chap. 
and  twenty-five  dollars  in  gold,  with  a  further  liabil-  ^— ,^-> 
ity  to  pay  ten  dollars  in  specie  to  meet  the  expenses  ^"i^"^- 
of  the  agencies.     Men  might  join  together  and  sub- 
scribe for  one  share. 

A  year  was  allowed  for  subscription.  At  its  end, 
on  the  eighth  of  March,  1787,  a  meeting  of  the  sub-  March. 
scribers  was  held  at  Boston,  and  Samuel  Holden 
Parsons,  Rufus  Putnam,  and  Manasseh  Cutler  were 
chosen  directors  to  make  application  to  congress  for 
a  purchase  of  lands  adequate  to  the  purposes  of  the 
company. 

The  basis  for  the  acquisition  of  a  vast  domain  was 
settled  by  the  directors,  and  Parsons  repaired  to  'New 
York  to  bring  the  subject  before  congress.  On  the  May 
same  day  on  which  the  act  for  the  government  of  the  ^' 
North-west  was  ordered  to  a  third  readins;  on  the 
morrow,  the  memorial  of  Samuel  Holden  Parsons, 
agent  of  the  associators  of  the  Ohio  company,  bearing 
date  only  of  the  preceding  day,  was  presented.*  It 
interested  every  one.  For  vague  hopes  of  colonization, 
here  stood  a  body  of  hardy  pioneers ;  ready  to  lead 
the  way  to  the  rapid  absoi'ption  of  the  domestic  debt 
of  the  United  States ;  selected  from  the  choicest  regi- 
ments of  the  army ;  capable  of  self-defence ;  the  pro- 
tectors of  all  who  should  follow  them ;  men  skilled 
in  the  labors  of  the  field  and  of  artisans ;  enterpris- 

*  The  memorial  of  Parsons  is  in  of  the  associators  for  the  pm-chase 
his  own  handwriting.  It  is  con-  of  lands  on  the  Ohio.  Read  May 
tained  in  vol.  xli.  of  Papers  of  the  ninth,  1787.  Referred  to  j\Ir.  Car- 
Old  Congress,  vol.  viii.  226,  of  the  rington,  Mr.  King,  Mr.  Dane,  Mr. 
Memorials.  It  is  endorsed  in  the  Madison,  Mr.  Benson.  Acted  on 
handwriting  of  Roger  Aldcn, "  Me-  July  23,  1787.  See  committee 
morial  of  Samuel  H.  Parsons,  agent  book." 


110  TIIE    FEDEEAL    CONVENTIOI?^. 

CHAP,  ins:  and  laborious  :  trained  in  the  severe  morality  and 
^-r^  strict  orthodoxy  of  the  New  England  villages  of  that 
^l.^'^-  day.     All  was  chan2:ed.     There  was  the  same  differ- 

May  *'  *=" 

9.  ence  as  between  sendins:  out  recruitino;  officers  and 
giving  marching  orders  to  a  regular  coips  present 
with  music  and  arms  and  banners.  On  the  instant 
the  memorial  was  I'eferred  to  a  committee  consisting 
of  Edward  Carrington,  Rufus  King,  ISI^athau  Dane, 
Madison,  and  Egbert  Benson — a  great  committee: 
its  older  members  of  congress  having  worthy  associ- 
ates in  Carrino-ton  and  Benson,  of  whom  nothino;  was 
spoken  but  in  praise  of  theii*  faultless  integrity  and 
rightness  of  intention. 
J"iy  On  the  fourth  day  of  July,  1787,  for  the  fii'st  time 
since  the  eleventh  of  May,  congress  had  a  quorum. 
There  were  present  from  the  North,  Massachusetts, 
New  York,  and  New  Jersey ;  fi-om  the  South,  Vir- 
ginia, the  two  Carolinas,  and  Georgia,  soon  to  be 
joined  by  Delaware.  The  South  had  all  in  its  own 
way.  The  president  of  congress  being  absent,  "Wil- 
liam Grayson,  of  Virginia,  was  elected  the  temporary- 
president. 
5.  On  Friday,   the  fifth,  there  was  no  (juorum.     In 

the  evening  arrived  Manasseh  Cutler,  one  of  the 
three  agents  of  the  Ohio  company,  sent  to  complete 
the  negotiations  for  western  lands.  On  liis  way  to 
New  York  Cutler  had  visited  Parsons,  his  fellow- 
du'ector,  and  now  acted  in  full  concert  with  him. 
Carrington  gave  the  new  envoy  a  cordial  welcome, 
introduced  him  to  membei's  on  the  ijoor  of  congress, 
devoted  immediate  attention  to  his  proposals,  and  al- 
io,    ready,  on  the  tenth  of  July,  his  report  granting  to 


COLONIAL    SYSTEM    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.       Ill 

tlie  Ohio  company  all  that  they  desired  was  read  in  cdap. 
congress/  — ^ 

This  report,  which  is  entirely  in  the  handwriting  ^  y  ?  ^" 
of  Edward  Carrington,  assigns  as  gifts  a  lot  for  the  lo. 
maintenance  of  public  schools  in  every  township  ; 
another  lot  for  the  purpose  of  religion  ;  and  four  com- 
plete townships,  "  which  shall  be  good  land,  and  near 
the  centre,"  for  the  purpose  of  a  university.  The 
land,  apart  from  the  gifts,  might  be  paid  for  in  loan 
office  certificates  reduced  to  specie  value  or  certificates 
of  liquidated  debts  of  the  United  States.  For  bad 
land,  expenses  of  surveying,  and  incidental  circum- 
stances, the  whole  allowance  was  not  to  exceed  one 
third  of  a  dollar  an  acre.  The  price,  therefore,  was 
about  sixty-six  cents  and  two  thirds  for  every  acre,  in 
United  States  certificates  of  debt.  But  as  these  were 
then  worth  only  twelve  cents  on  the  dollar,  the  price 
of  land  in  specie  was  between  eight  and  nine  cents 
an  acre. 

On  the  ninth  of  July  Richard  Henry  Lee  took  his 
seat  in  congress.  His  presence  formed  an  era.  On 
that  same  day  the  report  for  framing  a  western  gov- 
ernment, which  was  to  have  had  its  third  reading 
on  the  tenth  of  May,  was  referred  to  a  new  commit- 

*  The  business  of  congress  was  Congress,  xix.  27.  The  report  is 
done  with  closed  doors  and  with  in  the  handwriting  of  Edward  Car- 
rigid  secrecy.  Hence  some  slight  rington,  and  by  his  own  hand  is 
misconceptions  in  the  journal  of  endorsed:  "Report  of  Committee 
Cutler.  N.  A.  Review,  liii.  334,  on  Memorial  of  S.  H.  Parsons." 
etc.  He  says  that  on  July  sixth  a  Mr.  Thomson's  hand  endorses  fur- 
committee  was  appointed  to  con-  ther:  "Report  of  Mr.  Carrington, 
sider  his  proposal.  The  committee  Mr.  King,  Mr.  Dane,  Mr.  Madison, 
was  appointed  not  on  July  sixth,  Mr.  Benson.  Read  July  10th,  1787. 
but  on  the  ninth  of  May,  and  was  Order  of  the  day  for  the  eleventh." 
not  changed.  Its  report  is  to  be  On  what  day  it  was  presented  is 
found  in  vol.  v.  of  the  Reports  of  not  recorded. 
Committees,  and  in  Old  Papers  of 


112  THE   FEDEEAL    COJSTElSrTrOW. 

tee '  of  seven,  composed  of  Edward  Camngton  aud 
Dane,  Ricliard  Henry  Lee,  Kean  of  Soutli  Carolina, 
and  Melauctlion  Smith  of  New  York.  There  were  then 
in  cono-ress  five  southern  states  to  three  of  the  North  ; 
on  the  committee  two  northern  men  to  three  from  the 
South,  of  whom  the  two  ablest  were  Virginians. 

The  committee,  animated  by  the  presence  of  Lee, 
went  to  its  work  in  good  earnest.  Dane,  who  had 
been  actively  employed  on  the  colonial  government 
for  more  than  a  year,  and  for  about  ten  months  had 
served  on  the  committee  which  had  the  subject  in 
charge,  acted  the  part  of  scribe.  Like  Smith  and  Lee, 
he  had  opposed  a  federal  convention  for  the  reform 
of  the  constitution.  The  three  agreed  very  well  to- 
gether, though  Dane  secretly  harbored  the  wish  of  find- 
ing in  the  West  an  ally  for  "  eastern  politics."  They 
were  pressed  for  time,  and  found  it  necessary  finally 
to  adopt  the  best  system  they  could  get.  At  first 
they  took  up  the  plan  reported  by  Monroe ;  but  new 
ideas  were  started ;  and  they  worked  with  so  much 
11.  industry  that  on  the  eleventh  of  July  their  report  of 
an  ordinance  for  the  government  of  the  territory  of 
the  United  States  north-west  of  the  river  Ohio  was 
read  for  its  fii'st  time  in  congress. 

The  ordinance  embodied  the  best  parts  of  the 
work  of  their  predecessors.  For  the  begiiming  they 
made  the  whole  north-western  territory  one  district, 
of  which  all  the  officers  appointed  by  congress  were 

'  In  thn  Journals  of  C'onifross,  iv.  liad  been  refcrrod  to  tlie  oommit- 

751,  for  the  lltli  of  July,  nu-ntion  tec.     I  find  an  cndorsomrnt  in  the 

is  made  that  tlic  report  of  a  coin-  State  Department  on   one  of  the 

mittee  toucliin<,' the  teni])()rarY^'ov-  papers  tliat  tlie  day  on  ■which  that 

erument  for  tlie  Avesteru  territory  refereuce  was  made  was  July  ninth. 


COLOIS'IAL    SYSTEM    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.       113 

to  take  an  oatli  of  fidelity  as  well  as  of  office.     JefFer-  chap. 

son,  in  his  ordinance  for  tlie  sale  of  lands,  had  taken  .^.^^ 

care  for  the  equal  descent  of  real  estate,  as  well  as  ^Jf^- 

.  .      July- 

other   property,   to   children   of  both    sexes.      This 

was  adopted  and  expressed  in  the  forms  of  the  laws 

of  Massachusetts.    The  rule  of  Jefferson  was  followed 

in  requii'ing  no  property  qualification  for  an  elector ; 

but  was  not  extended,  as  Jefferson  had  done,  to  the 

officers  to  be  elected. 

The  committee  then  proceeded  to  establish  articles 
of  compact,  not  to  be  repealed  except  by  the  consent 
of  the  original  states  and  the  people  and  states  in  the 
territory.  Among  these,  as  in  Massachusetts  and 
Virginia,  were  fi'eedom  of  religious  worship  and  of 
religious  sentiments;  and  various  articles  from  the 
usual  bills  of  ri2:hts  of  the  states. 

The  next  clause  bears  in  every  word  the  impress 
of  the  mind  of  Eichard  Henry  Lee.  "  No  law  ought 
ever  to  be  made  in  said  territory  that  shall  in  any 
manner  whatever  interfere  with  or  conflict  with  pri- 
vate contracts  or  engagements,  hona  fide  and  without 
fraud  2^reviously  formed."  "  This  regulation  related 
particularly  to  the  abuse  of  paper  money."  * 

^  ' '  Cette  disposition  porte  par-  tion  :  "a  proposition  that  I  have 
ticulierement  sur  Tabus  du  papier  not  heard  mentioned."  Compare 
monnaie."  Otto  to  Montmorin,  Lee  to  Washington,  in  Sparks's 
successor  of  Vergennes  at  Ver-  Letters  to  Washington,  iv.  174. 
sailles,  20  July,  1787.  MS.  R.  More  than  forty-two  years  later 
H.  Lee  to  George  Mason,  Chantil-  Dane  claimed  for  himself  ' '  orig- 
ly,  15  May,  1787.  Life  of  Richard  inality  "  in  regard  to  the  clause 
Henry  Lee,  ii.  71-73.  He  hated  against  impairing  contracts  [Mas- 
paper  money,  and  therefore  had  sachusetts  Historical  Society  Pro- 
entreated  his  friends  in  the  con-  ceedings,  1867  to  1869,  p.  479], 
vention  at  Philadelphia  to  take  but  contem2:)orary  evidence  points 
from  the  states  the  right  of  issuing  to  R.  H.  Lee  as  one  with  whom 
it.  Moreover,  he  piqued  himself  he  must  at  least  divide  the  hon- 
upon  the  originality  of  his  sugges-  or. 
VOL.    II.                                          8 


114  THE   FEDERAL    CONYENTIOlSr. 

Tlie  tliird  article  recognised,  like  the  constitution 
of  Massachusetts,  and  like  the  letter  of  Eufus  Put- 
nam of  1788,*  that  religion,  morality,  and  knowledge 
are  necessary  to  good  government  and  the  happiness 
of  mankind,  and  declared  that  schools  and  the  means 
of  education  shall  forever  be  encoui'ao;ed. 

The  utmost  good  faith  was  enjoined  toward  the 
Indians ;  theii'  lands  and  property,  their  rights  and 
liberty,  were  ordered  to  be  protected  by  laws  founded 
in  justice  and  humanity ;  so  that  peace  and  friend- 
ship with  them  might  ever  be  preserved. 

The  new  states,  by  compact  which  neither  party 
alone  could  change,  became,  and  were  forever  to  re- 
main, a  part  of  the  United  States  of  America.  The 
waters  leading  into  the  Mississippi  and  St.  Lawrence, 
and  the  carrying  places  between  them,  according  to 
the  successful  motion  of  Grayson  and  King,  were  made 
common  highways  and  forever  free.  The  whole  ter- 
ritory was  divided  into  three  states  Only,  the  popu- 
lation requu'ed  for  the  admission  of  any  one  of  them 
to  the  union  was  fixed  at  sixty  thousand ;  but  both 
these  clauses  were  subject  to  the  future  judgment 
of  congress.  The  prayer  of  the  Ohio  company  had 
been  but  this  :  "  The  settlers  shall  be  under  the  im- 
mediate government  of  congress  in  such  mode  and 
for  such  time  as  congress  shall  judge  2">i'oper ; "  the 
ordinance  contained  no  allusion  to  slavery ;  and  in 
that  form  it  received  its  first  readino;  and  was  or- 
dered  to  be  printed. 

Grayson,  then  presiding  officer  of  congress,  had  al- 
ways opposed  slavery.     Two  years  before  he   had 

*  The  proposals  presented  by  Culler  are  in  the  handwriting  of  Parsons. 


COLONIAL    SYSTEM    OF   THE    UXITED    STATES.       115 

wisliecl  success  to  the  attempt  of  King  for  its  restric-  chap. 
tion ;  and  everything  points  to  him  *  as  the  immediate  .^^^^ 
cause  of  the  tranquil  spirit  of  disinterested  states-  ■^.^f'^- 
manship  which  took  possession  of  every  southern 
man  in  the  assembly.  Of  the  members  of  Virginia, 
Richard  Henry  Lee  had  stood  against  Jefferson  on 
this  very  question ;  but  now  he  acted  ^\'ith  Grayson, 
and  from  the  states  of  which  no  man  had  yielded  be- 
fore, every  one  chose  the  part  which  was  to  bring 
on  their  memory  the  benedictions  of  all  coming  ages. 
Obeying  an  intimation  from  the  south,  Nathan  Dane 
copied  from  Jefferson  the  prohibition  of  involuntary 
servitude  in  the  territory,  and  quieted  alarm  by  add- 
ing from  the  report  of  King  a  clause  for  the  deliv- 
ering up  of  the  fugitive  slave.  This  at  the  second 
readino;  of  the  ordinance  he  moved  as  a  sixth  article 
of  compact,  and  on  the  thirteenth  day  of  July, 
1787,  the  great  statute  forbidding  slavery  to  cross 
the  river  Ohio  was  passed  by  the  vote  of  Georgia, 
South  Carolina,  North  Carolina,  Virginia,  Delaware, 

^  William  Grayson  voted  for  Monroe  to  obtain  that  consent. 
King's  motion  of  reference,  by  The  consent  was  not  obtained, 
which  the  prohibition  of  slavery  Though  in  shattered  health,  he 
was  to  be  immediate ;  he  expressed  then  became  a  member  of  the  next 
the  hope  that  congress  would  be  Virginia  legislature,  and  was  con- 
liberal  enough  to  adopt  King's  spicuous  in  obtaining  the  assent  of 
motion  ;  he  gave,  more  than  any  Virginia.  Add  to  this  in  the  de- 
other  man  in  congress,  efficient  bate  on  excluding  slavery  from 
attention  to  the  territorial  ques-  the  territory  of  Arkansas,  Hugh  . 
tions  ;  in  1785  he  framed  and  car-  Nelson,  of  Virginia,  was  quoted 
ried  through  congress  an  ordinance  as  having  ascribed  the  measure  to 
for  the  sale  of  western  lands  ;  his  Grayson.  Mr.  Austin  Scott  fell 
influence  as  president  of  congress  upon,  and  was  so  good  as  to  point 
was  great  ;  his  record  as  against  out  to  me,  this  passage  in  Annals 
slavery  is  clearer  than  that  of  any  of  Congress  for  February,  1819, 
other  southern  man  who  was  pres-  column  1225.  Thus  far  no  direct 
ent  in  1787.  The  assent  of  Vir-  report  of  Nelson's  speech  has  beea 
ginia  being  requisite  to  the  valid-  found, 
ity  of  the  ordinance,  he  entreated 


116  THE   FEDERAL    COJ^fVENTION. 

CHAP.  New  Jersey,  New  York,  and  Massacliusetts,  all  tlie 
^.^^-^^^  states  that  were  tlien  present  in  congress.  Pennsyl- 
1 "  s  V.  vauia  and  three  states  of  New  Ensjland  were  absent ; 

July.  °  ' 

Maryland  only  of  tlie  South.  Of  the  eighteen  mem- 
bers of  congress  who  answered  to  their  names,  every 
one  said  "  aye  "  excepting  Abraham  Yates,  the  young- 
er, of  New  York,  who  insisted  on  leaving  to  all  fu- 
ture ages  a  record  of  his  want  of  Judgment,  right  feel- 
ing, and  common  sense. 

Thomas  Jefferson  first  summoned  congress  to  pro- 
hibit slavery  in  all  the  territory  of  the  United  States ; 
Rufus  King  lifted  up  the  measure  when  it  lay  almost 
lifeless  on  the  ground,  and  suggested  the  immediate 
instead  of  the  prospective  prohibition;  a  congress 
composed  of  five  southern  states  to  one  from  New 
England,  and  two  from  the  middle  states,  headed  by 
William  Grayson,  supported  by  Richard  Henry  Lee, 
and  using  Nathan  Dane  as  scribe,  carried  the  measure 
to  the  goal  in  the  amended  form  in  which  King  had 
caused  it  to  be  referred  to  a  committee ;  and,  as  Jef- 
ferson had  proposed,  placed  it  under  the  sanction  of 
an  irrevocable  compact.* 

The  ordinance  being  passed,  tlie  terms  of  a  sale 
between  the  United  States  and  Manasseh  Cutler  and 
Winthrop  Sargent,  as  agents  of  the  Ohio  company, 
were  rapidly  brought  to  a  close,  substantially  on  the 
basis  of  the  report  of  Carrington." 

Tiie  occupation  of  the  purchased  lands  began  im- 
mediately, and  proceeded  with  the  order,  courage,  and 

'  See  vol.  i.,  pages 417-410.     See         "  Compare    Carrington's    report 

also  Niitliiin    Diiiic  to  Rufus  King,  with  its  amended  form  in  Jouruals 

in  N.  Y.  Tribune  of  2S  Felj.,  1805,  of  Cougre.ss,  iv.  Appendix  17. 
or  below,  jjage.H  A'-iO,  431. 


COLONIAL   SYSTEM    OF   THE    UNITED   STATES.       117 

regularity  of  men  accustomed  to  tlie  discipline  of  chap. 
soldiers.     "  No  colony  in  America,"  said  Washington  ^.^-r^ 
in  his  joy,  "  was  ever  settled  under  such  favorable  ^j^ufy!" 
auspices  as  that  which  has  just  commenced  at  the 
Muskingum.     Information,   property,   and   strength 
will  be  its  characteristics.     I  know  many  of  the  set- 
tlers personally,   and  there  never  were  men  better 
calculated  to  promote  the  w^elfare  of  such  a  commu- 
nity." '    Before  a  year  had  passed  by,  free  labor  kept 
its  sleepless  watch  on  the  Ohio. 

But  this  was  not  enough.  Virginia  had  retained 
the  right  to  a  veiy  large  tract  north-west  of  the 
Ohio;  and  should  she  consent  that  her  own  sons 
should  be  forbidden  to  cross  the  river  with  their 
slaves  to  her  own  lands  ? 

It  was  necessary  for  her  to  give  her  consent  be- 
fore the  ordinance  could  be  secure ;  and  Grayson 
earnestly  entreated  Monroe  to  gain  that  consent  be- 
fore the  year  should  go  out.  But  Monroe  was  not 
equal  to  the  task,  and  nothing  was  accomplished. 

At  the  next  election  of  the  assembly  of  Virginia, 
Grayson,  who  was  not  a  candidate  in  the  preceding 
or  the  following  year,  was  chosen  a  delegate ;  and 
then  a  powerful  committee,  on  which  were  Carring- 
ton,  Monroe,  Edmund  Eandolph,  and  Grayson,  suc- 
cessfully brought  forward  the  bill  by  which  Virginia 
confirmed  the  ordinance  for  the  colonization  of  all 
the  territory  then  in  the  possession  of  the  United 
States  by  freemen  alone. 

The  white  men  of  that  day  everywhere  held  them- 
selves bound  to  respect  and  protect  the  black  men  in 

>  Sparks,  is.  385. 


118  THE  FEDERAL  CONVENTION. 

CHAP,  their  liberty  and  property.  Tlie  suffrage  was  not  as 
>-^v^^  yet  regarded  as  a  right  incident  to  manliood,  and 
IV 87.  could  be  extended  only  according  to  tlie  judgment 
of  those  who  were  found  in  possession  of  it.  AVhen 
1785.  in  1785  an  act  providing  for  the  gradual  abolition  of 
slavery  within  the  state  of  New  York,  while  it  placed 
the  children  born  of  slaves  in  the  rank  of  citizens, 
deprived  them  of  the  j)rivileges  of  electors,  the  coun- 
cil of  revision,  Clinton  and  Sloss  Hobart  being  pres- 
ent, and  adopting  the  report  of  Chancellor  Living- 
ston, negatived  the  act,  because,  "  in  violation  of  the 
rules  of  justice  and  against  the  letter  and  spirit 
of  the  constitution,"  it  disfranchised  the  black,  mu- 
latto, and  mustee  citizens  who  had  heretofore  been 
entitled  to  a  vote.  The  veto  prevailed  ; '  and  in  the 
state  of  New  York  the  colored  man  retained  his  im- 
partial right  of  suffrage  till  the  constitution  of  1821. 
Vii'ginia,  which  continued  to  recognise  free  negroes 
17  8  8.  as  citizens,  in  the  session  in  which  it  sanctioned  the 
north-western  ordinance,  enacted  that  any  person  who 
should  be  convicted  of  stealing  or  selling  any  free 
person  for  a  slave  shall  suffer  death  without  benefit 
of  clergy.'  Tliis  was  the  protection  which  Virginia, 
when  the  constitution  was  forming,  extended  to  the 
black  man. 

*  street's  New  York  Council  of  ^  Ilening,  xii.  531. 

Revision,  268,  200. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  COITSTITUTIOX    IX    DETAIL.     THE  POWEKS  OF    CON- 
GRESS. 

6  August  to  10  Septembee,  1787. 

The   twenty-three   resolutions   of   the  convention  chap. 

.  .     .  Vll 

were  distributed  by  the  committee  of  detail  into  as  ^^-^-1^ 

many  articles,  which  included  new  subjects  of  the  ^l^J- 

gravest   moment.      On   the   sixth   of  August  every      6.° 

member  of  the  convention  received  a  copy  of  this 

draft  of  a  constitution,  printed  on  broadsides  in  large 

type,  with  wide  spaces  and  margin  for  minutes  of 

amendments.*     The   experience   of   more   than   two 

months  had  inspu^ed  its  members  with  the  courage 

and  the  disposition  to  make  still  bolder  grants  of 

power  to  the  union. 

The  instrument "  opens  with  the  new  and  sublime 

words :  "  We,  the  people  of  the  states,"  enumerating 

New  Hampshire  and  every  other  of  the  thirteen,  "  do 

ordain,  declare,  and  establish  the  following  constitu- 

*  Of  these  copies  six  have  been    as  is  believed,  that  of  its  secre- 
examined,   including  that  of  the     tary. 
president  of  the  convention,  and,         ^  Gilpin,  1226  5  Elliot,  376. 


120  THE   FEDERAL    CONVElSTTIOl^. 

tion  for  tlie  government  of  ourselves  and  our  pos- 
terity." ' 

AYlien  "  the  good  people  "  of  thirteen  colonies,  each 
having  an  organized  separate  home  government,  and 
each  hitherto  forming  an  integral  part  of  one  common 
empire,  jointly  prepared  to  declare  themselves  free 
and  independent  states,  it  was  their  first  care  to  as- 
certain of  whom  they  were  composed.  The  question 
they  agreed  to  investigate  and  decide  by  a  joint  act  of 
them  all.  For  this  end  congress  selected  from  its  num- 
bers five  of  its  ablest  jurists  and  most  trusted  states- 
men: John  Adams  of  Massachusetts,  Thomas  Jef- 
ferson of  Virginia,  Edward  Rutledge  of  South  Caro- 
lina, James  Wilson  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Kobert  R. 
/  Livingston  of  New  York ;  the  fairest  representation 
j  that  could  have  been  made  of  New  England,  of  the 
'  South,  and  of  the  central  states.  The  committee 
thought  not  of  embarrassing  themselves  \^dth  the 
introduction  of  any  new  theory  of  citizenship ;  they 
looked  solely  for  existing  facts.  They  found  colonies 
with  well-kno^vn  territorial  boundaries;  and  inhabi- 
tants of  the  territory  of  each  colony ;  and  their  unani- 
mous report,  unanimously  accepted  by  congress,  was : 
"All  persons  abiding  within  any  of  tlie  United  Colo- 
nies, and  deriving  protection  from  the  la^vs  of  the 
same,  o^ve  allegiance  to  the  said  laws,  and  are  members 
of  sucii  colony."'  From  "persons  making  a  visita- 
tion or  temporary  stay,"  only  a  secondary  allegiance 
was  held  to  be  due. 

*  "We  the  people  of  Mnssnclm-  tcrity."    Preamble  to  the  first  con- 

sotts — do — ordain  iuulcstablisii  tlio  stitution  of  Massachusetts, 
followinjf  —  constitution    of    civil         *■' Journals  of  Congress  for  5,  17, 

government  for  ourselves  and  pos-  and  24  June,  1770. 


THE   POWERS    OF    CONGEESS.  121 

When  the  articles  of  confederation  were  framed  cttap. 

VII 

with  the  grand  principle  of  intercitizenship,  which  . — ^ 
gave  to  the  American  confederation  a  superiority  over  ^^J^r^' 
every  one  that  preceded  it,  the  same  definition  of      6. 
membership  of  the  community  was  repeated,  except 
that  intercitizenship  was  not  extended  to  the  pauper, 
or  the  vagabond,  or  the  fugitive  from  Justice,  or  the 
slave.     And  now  these  free  inhabitants  of  every  one 
of  the  United  States,  this  collective  people,  proclaim 
their  common  intention,  by  their  own  innate  life,  to 
institute  a  general  government,  to  whose  existence 
they  set  no  limit. 

For  the  name  of  the  government  they  chose  "  The 
United  States  of  America";  language,  w^hich  ex- 
pressed unity  in  plurality  and  was  endeared  by 
usage,  being  preferred  to  any  new  description. 

That  there  might  be  no  room  to  question  where 
paramount  allegiance  would  be  due,  the  second  arti- 
cle declared :  "  The  government  shall  consist  of  su- 
preme legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  powers." ' 

To  maintain  that  supremacy,  the  legislature  of  the 
United  States  was  itself  authorized  to  carry  into  exe- 
cution all  powers  vested  by  this  new  constitution  in 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  of 
its  departments  or  offices.''  The  name  congress  was 
adopted  to  mark  the  two  branches  of  the  legislature, 
which  were  now  named  the  house  of  representatives 
and  the  senate ;  the  house  still  taking  precedence 
as  the  first  branch.  The  executive  was  henceforward 
known  as  "  the  President." 

The  scheme  of  erecting  a  general  government  on 

»  Gilpin,  1236;  Elliot,  377.  ="  Gilpin,  1233;  Elliot,  379. 


122  THE   FEDEEAL    COITV^ENTION'. 

CHAP,  tlie  autliority  of  tlie  state  lesrislatures  was  discarded : 
VII  .   .  . 

.^ r-i^  and  the  states  were  enjoined  to  prescribe  for  the  elec- 

'^'J^'^-  tion  of  tlie  members  of  each  branch,  resfulations  sub- 

6.      ject  to  be  altered  by  the  legislature  of  the  United 

States ;   but  the  convention  itself,  in  its  last  days, 

unanimously  reserved  to  the  states  alone  the  right  to 

establish  the  places  for  choosing  senators/ 

To  ensure  the  continuous  succession  of  the  gov- 
ernment, the  legislature  was  ordered  to  meet  on  the 
first  Monday  in  December  in  every  year,''  "unless," 
added  the  convention,  "congress  should  by  law  ap- 
point a  different  day." 

To  complete  the  independence  of  congress,  pro- 
vision needed  to  be  made  for  the  support  of  its  mem- 
bers. The  committee  of  detail  left  them  to  be  paid 
for  their  services  by  their  respective  states ;  but  this 
mode  would  impair  the  self-sustaining  character  of  the 
14.  government.  Ellsworth,  avowing  a  change  of  opin- 
ion, moved  that  they  should  be  paid  out  of  the  Treas- 
ury of  the  United  States."  "If  the  general  legisla- 
ture," said  Dickinson,  "  should  be  left  dependent  on 
the  state  legislatures,  it  would  be  happy  for  us  if  we 
had  never  met  in  tins  room."  The  motion  of  Ells- 
worth was  carried  by  nine  states  against  Massachu- 
setts and  South  Carolina.*  The  compensation  which 
he  and  Sherman  would  have  fixed  at  five  dollars  a 
day,  and  the  same  for  every  thirty  miles  of  travel, 
was  left  "  to  ])e  ascertained  by  law."  " 

In  tlie  distribution  of  representatives  among  the 

'  Gilpin,  1220,  1270,  1281,  12S2,  =  Gilpin,  931,  132G;  Elliot,  226, 

1540,  10(W;  Elliot,  877,  401,  402,  425. 

550.  *  Gilpin,  1320;  Elliot,  427.            . 

"  Gilpin,  1227;  Elliut,  377.  "  Gilpiu,  1330;  Elliot,  427. 


THE    POWERS    OF    CONGRESS.  123 

states  no  cLau2:e  was  made ;  but  to  tlie  mle  of  one  cnAP. 

•  VII 

member  of  the  house  for  every  forty  thousand  inhab-  ^ 

itants  Madison  oblected  that  in  the  comius;  increase  i  ^  s  7. 
of  population  it  would  render  the  number  excessive.  8. 
"The  government,"  replied  Gorham,  "will  not  last  so 
long  as  to  produce  this  effect.  Can  it  be  supposed 
that  this  vast  country,  including  the  western  territory, 
will  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  hence  remain  one 
nation  ? " '  The  clause  was  for  the  time  unanimously 
made  to  read:  "not  exceeding  one  for  eveiy  forty 
thousand." 

As  the  first  qualification  for  membership  of  the 
legislature,  it  was  agreed,  and  it  so  remains,  that  the 
candidate  at  the  time  of  his  election  should  be  an  in- 
habitant of  the  state  in  which  he  should  be  chosen. 
It  is  not  required  that  a  representative  should  reside 
in  the  district  which  he  may  be  elected  to  represent. 

Citizenship  was  indispensable ;  and,  before  a  comer 
from  a  foreign  country  could  be  elected  to  the  house, 
he  must,  according  to  the  report,  have  been  a  citizen 
of  the  United  States  for  at  least  three  years ;  before 
eligibility  to  the  senate,  for  at  least  four.  "  I  do  not 
choose,"  said  Mason,  "to  let  foreigners  and  adven- 
turers make  laws  for  us  and  govern  us  without  that 
local  knowledge  which  ought  to  be  possessed  by  the 
representative."  And  he  moved  for  seven  years  in- 
stead of  three.^  To  this  all  the  states  agreed  except 
Connecticut. 

Fi'om  respect  to  Wilson,  who  was  born  and  edu-     is. 
cated  in  Scotland,  the  subject  was  taken  up  once 
more.     Gerry,  on  the  thirteenth,  wished  none  to  be 

^  GUpin,  1263;  Elliot,  392.  "  Gilpin,  1256,  1257;  Elliot,  389. 


124  THE   FEDERAL    COISTENTION. 

CHAP,  elected  but  men  born- in  the  land.  AYilliamson  pre- 
— .-i,  ferred  a  residence  of  nine  years  to  seven.*  Hamilton 
^A  ^  '^'  P^'oposed  to  require  only  citizenship  and  inhabitancy/ 
13.  and  Madison  seconded  him.  In  proof  of  the  advan- 
tao'e  of  encourao'inoj  emi<2:ration,  Wilson  cited  Penn- 
sylvania,  the  yoimgest  settlement  on  the  Atlantic 
except  Georgia,  yet  among  the  foremost  in  popula- 
tion and  prosperity ;  almost  all  the  general  officers 
of  her  line  in  the  late  army  and  three  of  her  deputies 
to  the  convention — Kobert  Morris,  Fitzsimons,  and 
himself — were  not  natives."  But  Connecticut,  Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland,  and  Virginia,  which  voted  with 
Plamilton  and  Madison,  were  overpowered  by  the 
seven  other  states,  of  which,  on  this  question,  New 
Hampshire,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia  were  the 
most  stubborn." 

Gouverneur  Morris  desired  that  the  proviso  of  seven 
years  should  not  affect  any  person  then  a  citizen.  On 
this  candid  motion  New  Jersey  joined  the  four  more 
liberal  states ;  but  Putledge,  Charles  Pinckney,  Mason, 
and  Bakhvin  spoke  mth  inveterate  tenacity  for  the  dis- 
franchisement against  Gorham,  Madison,  Morris,  and 
Wilson ;  and  the  motion  was  lost  by  five  states  to  six.' 
For  a  senator,  citizenship  for  nine  years  was  re- 
quired; Connecticut,  Pennsylvania,  and  Maryland 
iG.  alone  finding  the  number  of  years  excessive.'  Three 
days  later,  power  was  vested  in  the  legislature  of  the 
United  States  to  establish  a  uniform  rule  of  naturali- 
zation throu2:hout  the  United  States.' 

'  Cilpln,  1309;  Elliot,  411.  "  Gilpin,  1301-1305;  Elliot,  412- 

Mlilj.iii,  12!)0,  1800;  Elliot,  411.  414. 

»  Gilpin,  1:51)0,  1:501 ;  Elliot,  412.         °  Gilpin,  ISO.-);  Elliot,  414. 
*  Gilpin,  1;J01;  Elliot,  412.  ''  Elliot,  i.  245. 


TIIE    POWEES    OF    CONGRESS.  125 

Tlie  committee  of  detail  Lad  evaded  tlie  ques-  chap. 
tion  of  a  property  qualification  for  tlie  members  of  v^-^-^ 
the  federal  lesrislature  and  other  branches  of  the  2:ov-  i  *?  s  7. 

.  .  ....  Aug. 

ej'nmeut  by  referring  it  to  legislative  discretion,  lo! 
Charles  Pinckney,  who  wished  to  require  for  the 
president  a  fortune  of  not  less  than  a  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars,  for  a  judge  haK  as  much,  and  a  like  pro- 
portion for  the  members  of  the  national  legislature, 
ventured  no  more  than  to  move  generally  that  a  prop- 
erty qualification  should  be  requii'ed  of  them  all.* 
Franklin  made  answer :  "  I  dislike  everything  that 
tends  to  debase  the  spirit  of  the  common  people.  If 
honesty  is  often  the  companion  of  wealth,  and  if 
poverty  is  exposed  to  peculiar  temptation,  the  posses- 
sion of  jDroperty  increases  the  desire  for  more.  Some 
of  the  greatest  rogues  I  was  ever  acquainted  with 
were  the  richest  rogues.  Remember,  the  scripture 
requires  in  rulers  that  they  should  be  men  hating 
covetousness.  If  this  constitution  should  betray  a 
great  partiality  to  the  rich,  it  will  not  only  hurt  us  in 
the  esteem  of  the  most  liberal  and  enlightened  men 
in  Europe,  but  discourage  the  common  people  from 
removing  to  this  country." '  The  motion  was  rejected 
by  a  general  "  no."  The  question  was  for  a  while 
left  open,  but  the  constitution  finally  escaped  wdthout 
imposing  a  property  qualification  on  any  person  in 
the  public  employ. 

Various  efforts  were  made  by  Gorham,  Mercer, 
King,  and  Gouverneur  Morris  to  follow  the  precedent 
of  the  British  parliament,  and  constitute  a  less  num- 
ber than  a  majority  in  each  house  sufficient  for  a 

^  Gilpin,  1283;  Elliot,  402,  403.         "  Gilpin,  1284,1285;  Elliot,  403. 


1  V8 


126  THE   FEDERAL    C0I5TENTI0TT. 

CHAP,  quorum,  lest  tlie  secessiou  of  a  few  members  sliould 

VII  . 

-^r^  fatally  inteiTupt  tlie  course  of  public  business.     But, 

by  the  exertions  of  Wilson  and  Ellsworth,  Randolph 
lu"  and  Madison,  power  was  all  but  unanimously  given 
to  each  branch  to  compel  the  attendance  of  absent 
members,  in  such  manner  and  under  such  penalties 
as  each  house  might  provide.  Moreover,  each  house 
received  the  power,  unkno^\Ti  to  the  confederacy,  to 
expel  a  member  with  the  concurrence  of  two  thirds 
of  those  voting/ 

What  should  distinguish  the  "electors"  of  the 
United  States  from  their  citizens?  the  constituency 
of  the  house  of  representatives  of  the  United  States 
from  the  people  ?  The  report  of  the  committee  ran 
thus :  "  The  qualifications  of  the  electors  shall  be  the 
same,  from  time  to  time,  as  those  of  the  electors  in 
the  several  states  of  the  most  numerous  branch  of 
their  own  legislatures." "  Gouverneur  Morris  desired 
to  restrain  the  ri2:ht  of  suif ra2:e  to  freeholders ;  and 
he  thought  it  not  proper  that  the  qualifications  of 
the  national  legislature  should  depend  on  the  will  of 
the  states.  "Tlie  states,"  said  Ellsworth,  "are  the 
best  judges  of  the  circumstances  and  temper  of  their 
own  jieople."'  "Eight  or  nine  states,"  remarked 
IVIason,  "  liave  extended  the  right  of  suffrage  beyond 
the  freeholders.  AVhat  will  the  people  there  say  if 
any  shouhl  be  disfranchised?"'  "Abridgments  of 
the  rii^ht  of  suft'rao:e ,"  declared  Butler,  "  tend  to 
revolution."  "  Tlie  freeholders  of  the  country,"  re- 
plied Dickinson,  "  are  the  best  guardians  of  liberty ; 

■  Ciliiin,  1201;  Elliot,  407.  •''  Cilpiii,  1250;  Elliot,  386. 

=■  Gili.in,  1227;  Elliot,  377.  "  Ibid. 


THE   POWERS    OF    CONGRESS.  127 

and  tlie  restriction  of  tlie  rio-lit  to  tliem  is  a  neces-  chap. 

.  VII 

sary  defence  against  the  dangerous  influence  of  tliose  .^-^-^ 
multitudes  without  property  and  without  principle,  ^l^J- 
with  which  our  country,  like  all  others,  will  in  time  7.° 
alwund.  As  to  the  unpopularity  of  the  innovation, 
it  is  chimerical.  The  great  mass  of  our  citizens  is 
composed  at  this  time  of  freeholders,  and  will  be 
pleased  with  it."  "  Ought  not  every  man  who  pays 
a  tax,"  asked  Ellsworth,  "to  vote  for  the  representa- 
tive who  is  to  levy  and  dispose  of  his  money?"* 
"The  time,"  said  Gouverneur  Morris,  "is  not  distant 
when  this  country  Avill  abound  with  mechanics  and 
manufacturers,  who  will  receive  their  bread  from 
their  employers.  AVill  such  men  be  the  secure  and 
faithful  guardians  of  liberty — the  impregnable  bar- 
rier against  aristocracy?  The  ignorant  and  the  de- 
pendent can  be  as  little  trusted  with  the  public 
interest  as  children.  Nine  tenths  of  the  people  are 
at  present  freeholders,  and  these  will  certainly  be 
pleased  mth  the  restriction."  '  "  The  true  idea,"  said 
Mason,  "  is  that  every  man  having  evidence  of  attach- 
ment to  the  society,  and  pennanent  common  interest 
with  it,  ought  to  share  in  all  its  rights  and  privi- 
leges." "In  several  of  the  states,"  said  Madison,  "a 
freehold  is  now  the  qualification.  VieA\dng  the  sub- 
ject in  its  merits  alone,  the  freeholders  of  the  country 
woiild  be  the  safest  depositories  of  republican  lib- 
erty. In  future  times,  a  great  majority  of  the  people 
will  not  only  be  without  property  in  land,  but  prop- 
erty of  any  soi-t.  These  will  either  combine  under  the 
influence  of  their  common  situation,  in  which  case  the 

'  Gilpin,  1351;  Elliot,  386.  "  Gilpin,  1232;  Elliot,  3SC,  387. 


128  THE   FEDEEAL    COITVElS^TIOlSr. 

ciTAP.  riglits  of  property  and  the  public  liberty  will  not  be 
-—-.-L  secure  in  tlieir  liands,  or,  wliat  is  more  probable,  they 
17  8JI.  -^yjj[  become  the  tools  of  opulence  and  ambition ;  in 
7°     which  case,  there  "will  be  equal  danger  on  another 
side."^      Franklin   reasoned   a2;ainst   the    restriction 
fi'om  the  nobleness  of  character  that  the  possession  of 
the  electoral  franchise  inspires.'     "The  idea  of  re- 
straining]: the  ri2:ht  of  suffras-e  to  the  freeholders,"  said 
Butledge,  ''  would  create  division  among  the  people, 
and  make  enemies  of  all  those  who  should  be  ex- 
cluded."'    The  movement  of  Morris  toward  a  free- 
hold qualification  gained  no  vote  but  that  of  Dela- 
ware; and  the  section  as  reported  was  unanimously 
approved. 

Each  state  was  therefore  left  to  fix  for  itself  with- 
in its  own  limits  its  conditions  of  suffrage ;  but  where, 
as  in  New  York  and  Maryland,  a  discrimination  was 
made  in  different  elections,  the  convention  applied 
the  most  liberal  rule  adopted  in  the  state  to  the  elec- 
tions of  members  of  congress,  accepting  in  advance 
any  extensions  of  the  suffrage  that  in  any  of  the 
states  might  grow  out  of  the  development  of  republi- 
can institutions.  Had  the  convention  established  a 
freehold  or  otlier  qualification  of  its  own,  it  must 
have  taken  upon  itself  the  introduction  of  this  restric- 
tion into  every  one  of  the  states  of  the  union. 

On  the  question  of  representation  the  only  embar- 
rassment that  remained  gi'ew  out  of  that  pail  of  the 
report  of  the  committee  of  detail  which  sanctioned 
the  perpetual  continuance  of  the  slave-trade.     Every- 

Tlilpin,  1253;  P^lliot,  3S7.  ^Gilpin,  1255;  Elliot,  388. 

'■'  Giipin,  1254;  Elliot,  388. 


THE    POWERS    OF    COXGEESS.  129 

where,  always,  by  everybody,  iii  statutes  alike  of  cnAP. 
Virginia  and  South  Carolina,  in  speeches,  in  letters,  .^,-i^ 
slavery  in  those  days  was  spoken  of  as  an  evil.  ^^^J'- 
Everywhere  in  the  land,  the  free  negro  always,  the  7- 
slave  from  the  instant  of  his  emancipation,  belonged 
to  the  class  of  citizens,  though  in  Vii'ginia,  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  in  Delaware,  for  all  ex- 
cept those  who  before  1787  had  abeady  acquired  the 
elective  franchise,'  color  baiTed  the  way  to  the  ballot- 
box.  The  convention  did  nothino-  to  diminish  the 
rights  of  black  men ;  and,  to  the  incapacities  under 
which  they  labored  in  any  of  the  states,  it  was  care- 
ful to  add  no  new  one.  Madison,  in  the  following 
February,  recommending  the  constitution  for  ratifi- 
cation, writes :  "  It  is  admitted  that,  if  the  laws  were 
to  restore  the  rights  which  have  been  taken  away, 
the  negroes  could  no  longer  be  refused  an  equal 
share  of  representation  with  the  other  inhabitants.'"' 
The  convention  had  agreed  to  the  enumeration  of 
two  fifths  of  the  slaves  in  the  representative  popula- 
tion ;  but  a  new  complication  was  introduced  by  the 
sanction  which  the  committee  of  detail  had  lent  to 
the  perpetuity  of  the  slave-trade. 

King  had  hoped  for  some  compromise  on  the  sub-      8- 
ject  of  the  slave-trade  and  slavery.      "I  never  can 
agree,"  said  he,  "  to  let  slaves  be  imported  without 
limitation  of  time,  and  then  be  represented  in  the  na- 
tional leo-islature." ' 

Gouverneur  Morris  then  moved  that  there  should 
be  no  representation  but  of  "free  inhabitants."     "I 

» I  so  interpret  the  Delaware  stat-        ^  Gilpin,  1361, 1262 ;  Elliot,  391, 
ute  of  1787.  393. 

'  Federalist,  No.  liv. 

VOL.  II.  9 


130  THE    FEDEEAL    CONVEISTTIO]!?^. 

CHAP,  never  will  concur  in  upliolding  domestic  slavery.  It 
is  a  nefarious  institution.  It  is  tlie  curse  of  Heaven 
on  the  states  where  it  prevails.  Compare  the  free 
regions  of  the  middle  states,  where  a  rich  and  noble 
cultivation  marks  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  the 
people,  with  the  misery  and  poverty  which  overspread 
the  barren  wastes  of  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  the 
other  states  havius:  slaves.  Travel  throuo;h  the  whole 
continent,  and  you  behold  the  'prospect  continually 
varying  with  the  appearance  and  disappearance  of 
slavery.  The  moment  you  leave  the  eastern  states 
and  enter  New  York,  the  effects  of  the  institution 
become  visible.  Passing  through  the  Jerseys  and 
entering  Pennsylvania,  every  criterion  of  superior 
improvement  witnesses  the  change ;  proceed  south- 
wardly, and  every  step  you  take  through  the  great 
regions  of  slaves  presents  a  desert  increasing  with 
the  increasing  proportion  of  these  wretched  beings. 
Upon  what  principle  shall  slaves  be  computed  in  the 
representation  ?  Are  they  men  ?  Then  make  them 
citizens,  and  let  them  vote.  Are  they  property? 
"VYhy,  then,  is  no  other  property  included?  The 
houses  in  this  city  are  worth  more  than  all  the 
wretched  slaves  who  cover  the  rice-swamps  of  South 
Carolina.  The  admission  of  slaves  into  the  represen- 
tation, wlien  fairly  explained,  comes  to  this :  that  the 
inhabitant  of  Georgia  and  South  Carolina  who  goes 
to  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  in  defiance  of  the  most 
sacred  laws  of  humanity  tears  away  his  fellow-creat- 
ures from  their  dearest  connections  and  damns  them 
to  the  most  cruel  bondage,  shall  have  more  votes  in  a 
govermnent  instituted  for  protection  of  the  rights  of 


THE   POWERS    OF    CONGRESS.  131 

mankind  tlian  tlie  citizen  of  Pennsylvania  or  New  chap. 

.  VII 

Jersey,  who  views  with  a  laudable  horror  so  nefarious  .— ^ 
a  practice.  I  will  add,  that  domestic  slavery  is  the  ^^  ^  '^• 
most  prominent  feature  in  the  aristocratic  counte-  8. 
nance  of  the  proposed  constitution.  The  vassalage  of 
the  poor  has  ever  been  the  favorite  offspring  of  aris- 
tocracy. And  what  is  the  proposed  compensation  to 
the  northern  states  for  a  sacrifice  of  every  principle 
of  riglit,  of  every  impulse  of  humanity  ?  They  are 
to  bind  themselves  to  march  their  militia  for  the  de- 
fence of  the  southern  states  against  those  very  slaves 
of  whom  they  complain.  They  must  supply  vessels 
and  seamen,  in  case  of  foreigrn  attack.  The  leg-isla- 
ture  will  have  indefinite  power  to  tax  them  by  ex- 
cises and  duties  on  imports ;  both  of  which  will  fall 
hea\aer  on  them  than  on  the  southern  inhabitants. 
On  the  other  side,  the  southern  states  are  not  to  be 
restrained  from  importing  fresh  supplies  of  wretched 
Africans,  at  once  to  increase  the  danger  of  attack  and 
the  difficulty  of  defence ;  nay,  they  are  to  be  encour- 
aged to  it  by  an  assurance  of  having  their  votes  in 
the  national  government  increased  in  proportion ;  and 
are,  at  the  same  time,  to  have  their  exports  and  their 
slaves  exempt  from  all  contributions  for  the  public 
service.  I  mil  sooner  submit  myself  to  a  tax  for 
paying  for  all  the  negroes  in  the  United  States  than 
saddle  posterity  mth  such  a  constitution." '  Dayton 
seconded  the  motion,  that  his  sentiments  on  the  sub- 
ject might  appear,  whatever  might  be  the  fate  of  the 
amendment."  Charles  Pinckney  "  considered  the  fish- 
eries and  the  western  frontier  as  more  burdensome  to 

'  Gilpin,  1363-5;  Elliot,  393-3.  "  Gilpin,  1365;  Elliot,  393. 


132  THE   FEDEEAL    CONVENTIOlNr. 

CHAP,  tlie  United  States  than  the  slaves."  '    AVilson  thouerht 

VII. 

s — ^  an  asfreement  to  the  clause  avouIcI  be  no  bar  to  the 

^Au^-^'  ^^j^^^  o^   ^^^  motion,  which  itself  was   premature. 

8.      Kew  Jersey  voted  aye,  ten  states  in  the  negative.     So 

ended  the  skirmish  preliminary  to  the  struggle  on  the 

continuance  of  the  slave-trade. 

16.         Great  as  was  the  advance  from  the  articles  of  the 

confederacy,  the  new  grants,  not  less  than  the  old 

ones,  of  power  to  the  legislature  of  the  United  States 

to  lay  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  excises,  and  collect 

them ;  to  regulate  foreign  and  domestic  commerce ; 

alone  to  coin  money  and  regulate  the  value  of  foreign 

coin ;  to  fix  the  standard  of  weights  and  measures ; 

and  establish  post-offices,  were  accepted,  with  little 

difference  of  opinion.'' 

No  one  disputed  the  necessity  of  clothing  the 
United  States  with  power  "  to  borrow  money."  The 
committee  of  detail  added  a  continuance  of  the  per- 
mission "  to  emit  bills  on  the  credit  of  the  United 
States." '  Four  years  before,  Hamilton,  in  his  careful 
enumeration  of  the  defects  in  the  confederation,  pro- 
nounced that  this  authority  "to  emit  an  unfunded 
paper  as  the  sign  of  value  ought  not  to  continue  a 
formal  part  of  the  constitution,  nor  ever,  hereafter, 
to  be  employed  ;  being,  in  its  nature,  pregnant  with 
abuses,  and  liable  to  be  made  the  engine  of  imposi- 
tion and  fraud ;  holding  out  temptations  equally  per- 
nicious to  the  integrity  of  government  and  to  the 
morals  of  the  people."  * 
15.         Gouverneur  Morris  one  day  recited  the  history  of 

'  riilpin,  1205-0;  Elliot,  .^OS-T.  '  r,ili)in,  1233;  Elliot,  378. 

"  (jlilpin,  1343;  Elliot,  434.  *  lluiniltou'a  Works,  ii.  271. 


THE   POWEES    OF    CONGEESS.  133 

paper  emissions  aucl  tlie  perseverance  of  tlie  legisla-  chap. 

tive  assemblies  in  repeating  tliem,  though  well  aware  ^^ 

of  all  their  clistressino-  efl'eets,  and  drew  the  inference  i  '^  ^  7. 
that,  were  the  national  legislature  formed  and  a  war     is. 
to  break  out,  this  ruinous  expedient,  if  not  guarded 
asrainst,  would  be  asrain  resorted  to.*     He  moved  to     16. 
strike  out  the  power  to  emit  bills  on  the  credit  of 
the  United  States.     "  If  the  United  States,"  said  he, 
"  have  credit,  such  bills  will  be  unnecessary ;  if  they 
have  not,  they  will  be  unjust  and  useless."  *     Butler 
was  urgent  for  disarming  the  government  of  such  a 
power,  and  seconded  the  motion.'     It  obtained  the 
acquiescence  of  Madison. 

Mason,  of  Vii'ginia,  "  had  a  mortal  hatred  to  paper 
money,  yet,  as  he  could  not  foresee  all  emergencies,  he 
was  unwilling  to  tie  the  hands  of  the  legislature. 
The  late  war  could  not  have  been  carried  on  had 
such  a  prohibition  existed."'  "The  power,"  said 
Gorham,  "  as  far  as  it  will  be  necessaiy  or  safe,  is  in- 
volved in  that  of  borrowing  money."'  Mercer,  of 
Maryland,  was  unwilling  to  deny  to  the  government 
a  discretion  on  this  point ;  besides,  he  held  it  impoli- 
tic to  excite  the  opposition  to  the  constitution  of  all 
those  who,  like  himself,  were  friends  to  paper  money." 
"This,"  said  Ellsworth,  "is  a  favorable  moment  to 
shut  and  bar  the  door  against  paper  money,  which 
can  in  no  case  be  necessary.  Give  the  government 
credit,  and  other  resources  will  offer.  The  power 
may   do   harm,   never  good."'     Randolph,  notwith- 

'  Gilpin,  1334;  Elliot,  429.  »  Gilpin,  1344;  Elliot,  435. 

"  Gilpin,  1343;  Elliot,  434.  •  Gilpin,  1344,  1345;  Elliot,  435. 

"  Gilpin,  1345;  Elliot,  434.  '  Gilpin,  1345;  Elliot,  435. 
*  Gilpin,  1344^5 ;  Elliot,  434-5. 


134  THE    FEDEEAL    CONYENTIOIS". 

CHAP,  standing  Ms  antipathy  to  paper  money,  could  not  f  ore- 
V— v^  see   all   tlie   occasions   tliat    miglit   arise.'      "Paper 
^2yt^'  money,"  said  AVilson,  "  can  never  succeed  wMle  its 
10.     mischiefs   are   remembered;  and,   as  long  as  it  can 
be  resorted  to,  it  will  be  a  bar  to  other  resources."  * 
"  Kather  than  give  the  power,"  said  John  Langdon, 
of  New  Hampshii'e,  "  I  would  reject  the  whole  plan." ' 
With  the  full  recollection  of  the  need,  or  seeming 
need,  of  paper  money  in  the  revolution,  Avith  the  men- 
ace of  danger  in  future  time  of  war  from  its  prohibi- 
tion, authority  to  issue  bills  of  credit  that  should  be 
legal-tender  was  refused  to  the  general  government 
by  the  vote  of  nine  states  against  New  Jersey  and 
Maryland.     It  was  Madison  who  decided  the  vote  of 
Virginia ;  and  he  has  left  his  testimony  that  "  the  pre- 
text for  a  paper  cuiTency,  and  particularly  for  making 
the  bills  a  tender,  either  for  public  or  private  debts, 
was  cut  off."    This  is  the  interpretation  of  the  clause, 
made  at  the  time  of  its  adoption  alike  by  its  authors 
and  by  its  opponents,*  accepted  by  all  the  statesmen 

^  Gilpin,  1345;  Elliot,  435.  was  the  report  on  tliis  system,  as 

^  Ibid.  made  by  the  committee  of  detail. 

'  Gilpin,  134G;  Elliot,  435.  When  we  came  to  this  part  of  the 

*  For  Madison's   narrative    and  report,  a  motion  w.is  made  to  strike 

opinion,    see    Gil])in,     1344-134G,  out   the  words    'to  emit  bills  of 

and   note   on    1340  ;    Elliot,    434,  credit.'     Against  the   motion  we 

435.     The  accuracy  of  the  histori-  urged  that  it  would  be  improper 

cal  sketch  of  Luther  Martin,  oth-  to   deprive   the   congress   of  that 

cially  addressed,  27  January,  1788,  power  ;  that  it  would  be  a  novelty 

to  the  sjjeakcr  of  the  house  of  dele-  unprecedented  to  establish  a  gov- 

gatjes  of  Maryland,  has  never  been  ernmcnt  which   should   not   have 

questioned.     It  may  be  found  in  such  authority  ;  that  it  was  impos- 

EUiot,  i.  3G9,   370,  and  is  as  fol-  sible  to  look  forward  into  futurity 

lows  :  so    far   as   to    decide   that   events 

"By   our    original    Articles    of  might  not  happen  that  should  ren- 

Confederation,   the  congress  have  der  the  exercise  of  such  a  ])0wer 

power  to  borrow  money  and  emit  absolutely  necessary  ;  and  that  we 

bills  of  credit  on  the  credit  of  Ihe  douiited  whether,  if  a  war  should 

United  Status  ;  agreeably  to  which  take  place,   it  would  be  possible 


THE   POWEES    OF    CONGRESS.  135 

of  tliat  age,  not  open  to  dispute  because  too  clear  for  chap. 
argument,  and  never  disputed  so  long  as  any  one  man  v_~^ 
who  took  1  )art  in  framins;  the  constitution  remained  ^  .^  ^  '^• 

i  o  Aug. 

aliv^e.  ^*'- 

History  can  not  name  a  man  who  has  gained  en- 
during honor  by  causing  the  issue  of  paper  money. 
Wherever  such  paper  has  been  employed,  it  has  in 
every  case  thrown  upon  its  authors  the  burden  of  ex- 
culpation under  the  plea  of  pressing  necessity. 

Paper  money  has  no  hold,  and  from  its  very  na- 
ture can  acquire  no  hold,  on  the  conscience  or  affec- 
tions of  the  people.  It  impairs  all  certainty  of  pos- 
session, and  taxes  none  so  heavily  as  the  class  who 
earn  their  scant  possession  by  daily  labor.  It  injures 
the  husbandman  by  a  twofold  diminution  of  the  ex- 
chano-eable  value  of  his  harvest.  It  is  the  favorite 
of  those  who  seek  gain  without  willingness  to  toil ; 
it  is  the  deadly  foe  of  industry.  No  powerful  po- 
litical party  ever  permaoently  rested  for  support  on 

for  this  country  to  defend  itself  lavishing  the  most  unlimited  pow- 
without  having  recourse  to  paper  ers  of  taxation,  and  to  the  mercy 
credit,  in  which  case  there  would  of  which  they  were  willing  blind- 
be  a  necessity  of  becoming  a  prey  ly  to  trust  the  liberty  and  property 
to  our  enemies  or  violating  the  of  the  citizens  of  every  state  in  the 
constitution  of  our  government;  union  ;  and  they  erased  that  clause 
and  that,  considering  the  adminis-  from  the  system." 
tration  of  the  government  would  With  regard  to  the  paper  money 
be  principally  in  the  hands  of  the  issued  during  the  late  civil  war, 
wealthy,  there  could  be  little  rea-  congress  healed  the  difficulty  by 
son  to  fear  an  abuse  of  the  power  obtaining,  in  the  fourteenth  amend- 
by  an  unnecessary  or  injurious  ex-  ment,  from  the  whole  country  what 
ercise  of  it.  But,  sir,  a  majority  may  he  regarded  as  an  act  of  in- 
of  the  convention,  being  wise  be-  demnity  ;  and,  while  the  country 
yond  every  event,  and  being  will-  made  itself  responsible  for  the  debt 
ing  to  risk  any  political  evil  rather  which  was  contracted,  the  amend- 
than  admit  the  idea  of  a  paper  ment  preserves  the  original  clause 
emission  in  any  possible  case,  re-  of  the  constitution  in  its  full  in- 
fused to  trust  this  authority  to  a  tegrity  and  vigor. 
government  in  which  they  were 


I 


136  THE   FEDEEAL    CONVElSTTIOlSr. 

ciiAP.  tlie  tlieoiy  tliat  it  is  wise  and  riglit.  No  statesman 
lias  been  tliouglit  well  of  by  his  kind  in  a  succeeding 
generation  for  having  been  its  promoter.* 

In  the  plan  of  government,  concerted  between  the 
members  from  Connecticut,  especially  Sherman  and 
Ellsworth,  there  was  this  further  article :  ''  That  the 
legislatures  of  the  individual  states  ought  not  to  pos- 
sess a  right  to  emit  bills  of  credit  for  a  cuiTency,  or 
to  make  any  tender  laws  for  the  payment  or  discharge 
of  debts  or  contracts  in  any  manner  different  from  the 
agreement  of  the  parties,  or  in  any  manner  to  obstruct 
or  impede  the  recovery  of  debts,  whereby  the  inter- 
ests of  foreigners  or  the  citizens  of  any  other  state 
may  be  affected."' 

The  committee  of  detail  had  reported :  No  state, 
without  the  consent  of  the  leoislature  of  the  United 
28.  States,  shall  emit  bills  of  credit.  With  a  nobler  and 
safer  trust  in  the  power  of  truth  and  right  over  opin- 
ion, Sherman,  scorning  compromise,  cried  out :  "  This 
is  the  favorable  crisis  for  crushing  paper  money,"  and, 
joining  "Wilson,  they  two  j)roposed  to  make  the  pro- 
hiljition  absolute.  Gorham  feared  that  the  absolute 
jorohibition  would  rouse  the  most  desperate  oj^tposi- 
tion ;   but  four  northern   states   and  four  southern 

*  This  paraf^raph  is  a  very  feeble  peciallj'  if  it  be  a  tender,  will  de- 
abstract  of  the  avowed  convictions  stroy  what  little  credit  is  left;  will 
of  the  fXTQiit  statesmen  and  jurists  bewilder  conscience  in  the  mazes 
who  made  the  constitution.^  Their  of  dishonest  speculations;  will  al- 
words  are  homely  and  direct  con-  lure  some  and  constrain  others  into 
demnation ;  and  tlieycome  not  from  tlie  peqietration  of  knavish  tricks  ; 
onr;  j)arfy.  liicliard  Henry  Lee  isas  Avill  turn  vice  into  a  lepd  virtue  ; 
strong  in  his  denunciation  as  Wasli-  and  sanctify  iniquity  by  law,"  etc. 
in;rtf)n,  Sherman,  or  Robert  H.  \Av-  —From  the.  holograph  of  William 
inj^ston.   William  Paterson,  of  New  Paterson. 

Jersey,  wrote  in  1780  as  follows  :         '■'  Sherman's  Life,  in  "Biography 

"An  increase  of  paper  money,  cs-  of  the  Signers,"  ii.  43. 


THE   POWERS    OF    CONGEESS.  137 

states,  Maryland  being  divided,  New  Jersey  absent,  chap. 
and  Virginia  alone  in  the  negative,  placed  in  tlie  con-  ^^^ 
stitntion  these  unequivocal  words:  "No  state  shall  ^l^J- 
emit  bills  of  credit."     The  second  part  of  the  clause,     28. 
"  No  state  shall  make  anything  but  gold  and  silver 
coin  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts,"   was   accepted 
without  a  dissentient  state.     So  the  adoption  of  the 
constitution  is  to  be  the  end  forever  of  paper  money, 
whether  issued  by  the  several  states  or  by  the  United 
States,  if  the  constitution  shall  be  rightly  interpreted 
and  honestly  obeyed. 

It  was  ever  the  wish  of  Sherman  and  Ellsworth  to 
prohibit  "  the  discharge  of  debts  or  contracts  in  any 
manner  different  from  the  agreement  of  the  parties." 
Among  the  aggressions  made  by  the  states  on  the 
rights  of  other  states,  Madison,  in  his  enumeration,* 
names  the  enforced  payment  of  debts  in  paper  money, 
the  enforced  discharge  of  debts  by  the  conveyance  of 
land  or  other  property,  the  instalment  of  debts,  and 
the  "  occlusion  "  of  courts.  For  the  last  two  of  these 
Avrongs  no  remedy  was  as  yet  provided. 

King  moved  to  add,  as  in  the  ordinance  of  congress 
for  the  establishment  of  new  states,  "a  prohibition 
on  the  states  to  interfere  in  private  contracts."  "^ 
"This  would  be  going  too  far,"  interposed  Gouver- 
neur  Morris.  "  There  are  a  thousand  laws  relating 
to  bringing  actions,  limitations  of  actions,  and  the 
like,  which  affect  contracts.  The  judicial  power  of 
the  United  States  will  be  a  protection  in  cases  within 
their  jurisdiction ;  within  the  state  itself  a  majority 
must  rule,  whatever  may  be  the  mischief  done  among 

*  Madison,  i.  321.  '  Gilpin,  1443;  Elliot,  485. 


138  THE  FEDEEAL  CONVENTION-. 

CHAP,  themselves."  *  "  Why,  then,  prohibit  bills  of  credit  ? " 
^^ — r^  inquii'ed  Sherman.  Wilson  was  in  favor  of  King's 
17  8  7.  motion.    Madison  admitted  that  inconveniences  misrht 

Aug.  ^  ... 

2s.  arise  from  such  a  prohibition,  but  thought  on  the 
whole  its  utility  would  overbalance  tliem.  He  con- 
ceived, however,  that  a  negative  on  the  state  laws 
could  alone  secure  the  end.  Evasions  might  and 
would  be  devised  by  the  ingenuity  of  legislatures.'' 
His  colleague  Mason  replied :  "  The  motion  "  of  King 
"  is  carrying  the  restraint  too  far.  Cases  will  happen 
that  cannot  be  foreseen,  where  some  kind  of  interfer- 
ence will  be  proper  and  essential."  He  mentioned 
the  case  of  limiting  the  period  for  bringing  actions 
on  open  account,  that  of  bonds  after  a  lapse  of  time, 
asking  w^hether  it  was  j^roper  to  tie  the  hands  of  the 
states  from  making  provision  in  such  cases.^ 

"The  answer  to  these  objections  is,"  Wilson  ex- 
plained, "  that  retrospective  interferences  onl}^  are  to 
be  prohibited."  "  Is  not  that  already  done,"  asked 
Madison,  "  by  the  prohibition  of  ex  post  facto  laws, 
which  will  oblige  the  judges  to  declare  such  interfer- 
ences null  and  void  ? " '  But  the  prohibition  which, 
on  the  motion  of  Gerry  and  McHenry,  had  been 
adopted  six  days  before,  was  a  limitation  on  the 
powers  of  congress.  Instead  of  King's  motion,  llut- 
ledge  advised  to  extend  that  limitation  to  the  indi- 
vidual states;"  and  accordingly  they,  too,  were  now 
forljidden  to  pass  bills  of  attainder  or  ex  j>ost  facto 

'Gilpin,  1443;  Elliot,  485.                  "^Ir  ;)o.s«_/>/c?r>,  not  retrospective, 

'  Ibid.  was  the   form  used  by  Kutledge. 

'  l])id.  Correct  Gilpin,  1444,  by  the  Jour- 

*  Gilpin,  l;3i)9,  1444;  Elliot,  4G2,     nal  of  the  Convention,  i'n  Elliot,  i. 

485.  .271,  and  compare  Elliot,  i.  257. 


THE    POWERS    OF   CONGEESS.  139 

laws  by  tlie  vote  of  seven  states  against  Connecticut,  cn.vp. 
Maryland,  and  Virginia,  Massachusetts  being  absent.  ^^-^-^ 
So  the  motion  of  Kins^,  wliicli  had  received  hearty  ^?^'^- 

P  .  "^       Aug. 

support  only  from  Wilson,  was  set  aside  by  a  very     28. 
great  majority. 

The  next  morning  "Dickinson  mentioned  to  the  29. 
house  that,  on  examining  Blackstone's  Commentaries, 
he  found  that  the  term  ex  post  facto  related  to  crimi- 
nal cases  only ;  that  the  words  would  consequently 
not  restrain  the  states  from  retrospective  laws  in  civil 
cases ;  and  that  some  further  provision  for  this  pur- 
pose would  be  requisite," '  Of  this  remark  the  con- 
vention at  the  moment  took  no  note ;  and  the  clause 
of  Rutledge  was  left  in  the  draft  then  making  of  the 
constitution,  as  the  provision  against  the  "  stay  laws 
and  occlusion  of  coui'ts  "  so  much  warned  against  by 
Madison,  "  the  payment  or  discharge  of  debts  or  con- 
tracts in  any  manner  different  from  the  agreement 
of  the  parties,"  as  demanded  by  Sherman  and  Ells- 
worth." 

Among  the  prohibitions  on  the  states  which  the 
committee  of  detail  reported  was  that  of  laying  du- 
ties on  imports.    "  Particular  states,"  observed  Mason,     28. 
"may  wish  to  encourage  by  impost  duties  certain 
manufactures  for  which  they  enjoy  natural  advau- 

*  Gilpin,  1450 ;  Elliot,  488.  of  a  motion  preserved  among  the 

"  That  no  other  motion  in  form  records  of  the  convention  in  the 

or  substance  was  adopted  by  the  state  department,    of  the  debates 

convention  till  after  tlie  draft  went  of  the  convention  as  rejDorted  by 

into  the  hands  of  the  committee  of  Madison,  and  of  the  several  copies 

style  and  revision,  appears  from  a  of  the  broadside  which  were  used 

most   careful    comparison   of    the  for  the  entry  of  amendments  by 

printed  journal  of  the  convention,  AVashington,  by  Madison,  byBrear- 

of  its  journal  as  jireserved  in  man-  ley,  by  Gilman,  by  Johnson,   and 

uscript,   of   every  scrap  of  paper  another,  which  seems  to  be  that  of 

containing  any  motion  or  sketch  the  secretary,  Jackson. 


140  THE  FEDERAL  CONVENTION. 

CHAP,  tages,  as  Virginia  tlie  manufacture  of  liemp,  etc."* 
— r-i^  Madison  replied :  "  The  encouragement  of  manufac- 
^A  t^'  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^^^  mode  requires  duties,  not  only  on  im- 
28?  ports  directly  from  foreign  countries,  but  from  tlie 
other  states  in  the  union,  which  would  revive  all  the 
mischiefs  experienced  from  the  want  of  a  general 
government  over  commerce."  "^  King  proposed  to  ex- 
tend the  prohibition  not  to  imports  only,  but  also  to 
exports,  so  as  to  prohibit  the  states  from  taxing  either. 
SheiTQan  added,  that,  even  with  the  consent  of  the 
United  States,  the  several  states  should  not  levy 
taxes  on  importations  except  for  the  use  of  the 
United  States.  This  movement  Gouverneur  Morris 
suj^ported  as  a  regulation  necessary  to  prevent  the 
Atlantic  states  fi'om  endeavoring  to  tax  the  western 
states  and  promote  their  separate  interest  by  oppos- 
ing the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  which  would 
drive  the  western  people  into  the  arms  of  Great  Brit- 
ain. George  Clymer,  of  Pennsylvania,  "thought  the 
encouragement  of  the  western  country  was  suicide  on 
the  part  of  the  old  states.  If  the  states  have  such 
different  interests  that  they  cannot  be  left  to  regulate 
their  own  manufactures,  without  encountering  the  in- 
terests of  other  states,  it  is  a  proof  that  they  are  not 
fit  to  compose  one  nation." '  King  did  not  wish  to 
"  interfere  too  much  with  the  policy  of  states  respect- 
ing their  manufactures,"  holding  that  such  a  policy 
of  protection  in  a  separate  state  might  be  necessary. 
"  Revenue,"  he  reminded  the  house,  "  was  the  object 
of  the  general  legislature."  *     By  a  la^rge  majority  the 

»  rJilpin,  1445;  Elliot,  486.  '  Cilpin,  1440,  1447;  Elliot,  487. 

••'  Ibid.  *  Gilpin,  1447;  Elliot,  487. 


THE   POWEES    OF    CONGEESS.  141 

prohibition  on  tlie  several  states  of  taxing  imports  chap. 

was  made  dependent  on  tlie  consent  of  the  legislature  — ^-^ 

of  the  United  States  ;  and  with  this  limitation  it  was  ^  .^  ^  '^• 
.         .  .        -^"s* 

carried  without  a  dissentient  vote.     The  extendino;     28. 

of  the  prohibition  to  exports  obtained  a  majority  of 
but  one.  That  taxes  on  imports  or  exports  by  the 
states,  even  mth  the  consent  of  the  United  States, 
should  be  exclusively  for  the  use  of  the  United  States, 
gained  every  state  but  Massachusetts  and  Maryland. 
The  power  to  protect  domestic  manufactui-es  by  im- 
posts was  taken  away  from  the  states,  and,  so  far  as 
it  is  incident  to  the  raising  of  revenue,  was  confined 
to  the  United  States. 

The  country  had  been  filled  with  schemes  for  a  6. 
division  of  the  thirteen  states  into  two  or  more  sepa- 
rate groups ;  the  convention,  following  its  committee 
of  detail,  would  suffer  no  state  to  enter  into  any 
confederation,  or  even  into  a  treaty  or  alliance  mth 
any  confederation.  The  restriction  was  absolute.  To 
make  it  still  more  clear  and  peremptory,  it  was  re- 
peated and  enlarged  in  another  article,  which  declared 
not  only  that  "  no  state  shall  enter  into  any  agree- 
ment or  compact  with  any  foreign  power,"  but  that 
"  no  state  shall  enter  into  any  agreement  or  compact 
with  any  other  state."  *  Each  state  was  confined  in 
its  government  strictly  to  its  own  duties  within  itself. 

As  to  slavery,  it  was  by  unanimous  consent  treat- 
ed as  a  sectional  interest ;  freedom  existed  in  all 
the  states ;  slavery  was  a  relation  established  within  a 
state  by  its  owti  law.  Under  the  sovereignty  of  the 
king  of  Great  Britain  the  laws  of  a  colony  did  not  on 

'Article  xiii.     Gilpin,  1239;  Elliot,  381. 


142  TITE    FEDERAL    COISTYEISTTIOTT. 

CHAP.  Britisli  soil  prevail  over  the  imperial  law.  The  slave, 
— r^  so  it  was  finally  accepted,  became  free  on  touching 
1 J  ^  "^^  the  soil  of  Eno'land.     In  like  manner  in  America,  a 

Aug.  ,  o      ^  ^  ^  7 

6.  slave  in  one  American  colonv,  findino;  himself  on  the 
soil  of  another,  was  subject  only  to  the  laws  of  the 
colony  in  which  he  might  be  found.  It  remained  so 
on  the  declaration  of  independence ;  not  as  an  innova- 
tion, but  as  the  continuance  of  an  established  fact. 
The  articles  of  confederation  took  no  note  of  slaveiy, 
except  by  withholding  the  privileges  of  intercitizen- 
ship  from  the  slave.  The  enumeration  of  slaves  was 
in  the  distribution  of  political  power  a  matter  of  in- 
difference so  long  as  congress  voted  by  states  and  pro- 
portioned its  requisitions  of  revenue  to  vv'ealth  alone. 
In  framing  a  constitution  in  which  representation  in 
one  branch  of  the  legislature  was  made  to  depend  on 
population,  it  became  the  political  interest  of  the  states 
in  which  slaves  abounded  to  have  them  included  in 
the  enumeration  of  the  population  equally  with  the 
free  negroes  and  the  w^hites.  They  so  far  succeeded 
that  the  slave  inhabitants  were  held  to  be  a  part  of  the 
grand  aggregate  of  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
and  as  such  were  entitled  to  bring  a  proportional  in- 
crease of  representation  to  the  state  in  which  they 
abode.  For  the  purpose  of  representation  the  slaves 
were  by  a  compromise  allowed  to  be  counted,  but  only 
as  three  out  of  five ;  should  the  master  see  fit  to  liber- 
ate the  slave,  he  became  at  once  a  free  inhabitant  and 
citizen  with  tlie  right  of  intercitizenship,  and  of  being 
counted  equally  in  the  representative  po]nilation. 

Intercitizenship  ^Nas  the  life-blood  of   the  union. 
The  report  of  the  connuittee  of  detail,  changing  only 


28. 


THE   POWEES    OF    COJSTGRESS.  143 

tlie  words  "free  inhabitants"  for  "citizens,"  followed  chap. 

VII 

the  articles  of  confederation  in  declaring  that  "the  .^..-^L- 
citizens  of  each  state  shall  be  entitled  to  all  privi-  i  v  s  7. 

Aug. 

leges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the  several  states."*  e. 
The  slave  remained  a  slave,  but  only  in  states  whose 
local  laws  permitted  it.  Cotesworth  Pinckney  avowed 
himself  not  satisfied  with  the  article ;  he  wished 
that  "  some  provision  should  be  included  in  favor  of 
property  in  slaves."  The  article  was  nevertheless 
adopted,  but  not  unanimously ;  South  Carolina  voted 
against  it,  and  Georgia  was  divided,  showing  that 
discontent  with  the  want  of  the  protection  of  slavery 
was  seated  in  their  breasts,  even  so  far  as  to  impugn 
the  great  principle  which  was  a  necessary  condition 
of  union.'^ 

The  convention  proceeded  with  its  work,  and  pro- 
posed that  any  person  who  should  flee  from  justice 
should  be  delivered  up  on  the  demand  of  the  execu- 
tive of  the  state  from  which  he  fled.  Butler  and 
Charles  Pinckney  moved,  as  an  amendment,  to  require 
fugitive  slaves  to  be  delivered  up  like  criminals. 
"This,"  answered  Wilson,  "would  oblige  the  execu- 
tive of  the  state  to  do  it  at  the  public  expense." 
"  The  public,"  said  Sherman,  "  can  with  no  more  pro- 
priety seize  and  surrender  a  slave  or  servant  than  a 
horse."  Butler  withdrew  his  motion ;  and  the  article 
as  proposed  was  unanimously  adopted.^ 

The  convention  was  not  unprepared  to  adopt  a 
fugitive  slave  law,  for  such  a  clause  formed  a  part  of 
the  ordinance  of  1787,  adopted  in  the  preceding  July 

*  Gilpin,  1240;  Elliot,  381.  »  Gilpin,  1447,  1448;  Elliot,  487. 

'Gilpin,  1447;  Elliot,  487. 


144  THE  FEDERAL  CONVENTION". 

CHAP,  for  tlie  froverument  of   tlie  noi'tli-western  territory. 
VII  . 

Ou  the  next  day  Butler,  after  the  opportunity  of  re- 
flection and  consultation,  offered  a  proposal :  "  That 
the  fugitive  slaves  escaping  into  another  state  shall 
be  delivered  'up  to  the  person  justly  claiming  their 
service  or  labor."  This  for  the  moment  was  agreed 
to  without  dissent.*  The  trouble  and  expense  of 
making  the  claim  fell  on  the  slave-holder;  the  lan- 
guage of  the  article  did  not  clearly  point  out  by 
whom  the  runaway  slave  was  to  be  delivered  up. 

*  Gilpin,  Uo6;  Elliot,  493.     Compare  Gilpin,  1558;  Elliot,  5C4. 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

THE   CONSTITUTION  IN  DETAIL.     THE  POWERS   OF   CON- 
GRESS,   CONTINUED. 

On  the  eio-liteentli  of  Aiio-ust,  Rutledo-e  insisted  that  chap. 

^  .  .  VIII. 

it  was  necessary  and  expedient  for  the  United  States  ^^^,~^ 
to  assume  "all  the  state  debts."     A  committee  of  ^J^"^- 

Aug. 

eleven,  to  whom  the  subject  was   refeired,  on   the     is. 
twenty-first  re^^orted  a  grant  of  power  to  the  United     21. 
States  to  assume  "  the  debts  of  the  several  states  in- 
curred duriuo^  the  late  war  for  the  common  defence 
and  general  weKare."    But  the  states  which  had  done 
the  most  toward  discharojino;  their  oblio-ations  were 
unwilling  to  share  equally  the  burdens  of  those  which 
had  done  the  least.     And  the  convention,  adopting     25, 
the  language  of   Randolph,  affirmed  no  more  than 
that  the  eno-asfements  of  the  confederation  should  be 
equally  valid  against  the  United  States  under  this 
constitution.' 

The  convention  agreed  with  its  committee  in  giv-     11. 
ing  jurisdiction  to  the  United  States  over  the  crime 
of  counterfeiting  their  coins  and  over  crimes  commit- 
ted on  the  high  seas,  or  against  the  laws  of  nations.' 

'  Gilpin,  1426;  Elliot,  476.  '  Gilpin,  1349;  Elliot,  437. 

VOL.  U.  10 


146  THE   FEDERAL    CONVENTIOlSr. 

CHAP.  The  report  of  the  committee  of  detail  gave  power 
. — ,-L.  to  congress  "  to  subdue  a  rebellion  in  any  state  on  the 
^Au^^'  application  of  its  legislature."     Martin  approved  the 

17.  limitation  to  which  Charles  Pinckney,  Gouverneur 
Morris,  and  Langdon  objected.'  Ellsworth  moved  to 
dispense  with  the  application  of  the  legislature  of 
the  rebellious  state  when  that  body  could  not  meet. 
"  Geny  was  against  letting  loose  the  myrmidons  of 
the  United  States  on  a  state  without  its  o\^ti  consent. 
The  states  will  be  the  best  judges  in  such  cases. 
More  blood  would  have  been  spilt  in  Massachusetts 
in  the  late  insurrection,  if  the  general  authority  had 
intermeddled." '  The  motion  of  Ellsworth  was  adopt- 
ed ;  but  it  weighed  down  the  measure  itself,  which 
obtained  only  four  votes  against  four.' 

We  come  to  a  regulation  where  the  spiiit  of  repub- 
licanism exercised  its  humanest  influence.  The  world 
had  been  retarded  in  civilization,  impoverished  and 
laid  waste  by  wars  of  the  personal  ambition  of  its 
kings.  The  committee  of  detail  and  the  convention, 
in  the  interest  of  peace,  entrusted  the  power  to  de- 
clare war,  not  to  the  executive,  but  to  the  deliberate 
decision  of  the  two  branches  of  the  legislature,'  each 
of  them  having  a  negative  on  the  other;  and  the 
executive  retaining  his  negative  on  them  both. 

18.  On  the  eighteenth  Madison  offered  a  series  of  prop- 
ositions, granting  j)o^vers  to  dispose  of  the  lands  of 
the  United  States;  to  institute  temporary  govern- 
ments for  new  states ;  to  regulate  affairs  with  the  In- 
dians ;  to  exercise  exclusively  legislative  authority  at 

»  Gilpin,  l:WO;  Elliot,  4:17.  "Gilpin,      13.51;     Elliot,     438. 

"  Gilpin,  i:r)();  Elliot,  4:58.  Elliot,  i.  247. 

•Gilpin,  1:j;j1;  Elliot,  438. 


THE   POWEES    OF    CONGRESS.  14? 

the  seat  of  general  government ;  to  grant  charters  of  chap. 
incorporation  where  the  public  good  might  re(}uii'e 
them  and  the  authority  of  a  single  state  might  be  in- 
competent ;  to  secure  to  authors  their  copyrights  for 
a  limited  time ;  to  establish  a  university ;  to  encour- 
aa:e  discoveries  and  the  advancement  of  useful  knowl- 
edge/  In  that  and  the  next  sitting  Charles  Pinckney 
proposed,  among  other  cessions,  to  grant  immunities 
for  the  promotion  of  agriculture,  commerce,  trades, 
and  manufactures.  They  were  all  unanimously  re- 
ferred to  the  committee  of  detail. 

The  power  to  raise  and  support  armies  was  accept- 
ed unanimously,  with  no  "  fetter  on "  it,  except  the 
suggestion  then  made  by  Mason  and  soon  formally 
adopted,  that  "no  appropriation  for  that  use  should 
be  for  a  longer  term  than  two  years."  Gerry  would 
have  an  army  of  two  or  three  thousand '  at  the  most ; 
a  number  in  proportion  to  population  greater  than  the 
present  army  of  the  United  States. 

The  idea  of  a  navy  was  welcome  to  the  country. 
Jefferson  thought  a  small  one  a  necessity.'  The 
convention  accepted  unanimously  the  clause  giving 
power  "  to  build  and  equip  fleets." 

The  report  gave  to  the  general  government  only 
power  to  call  forth  the  aid  of  the  militia.*  Mason 
moved  to  grant  the  further  power  of  its  regulation 
and  discipline,  for  "thirteen  states  would  never  con- 
cur in  an}^  one  system " ; '  but  he  reserved  "  to  the 

>  Gilpin,  1353,   1354,  1355;  El-  592,  606;    ii.  211,   218;   Madison, 

Hot,  439,  440.  i.  196. 

*  Gilpin,  1360;  Elliot,  443.  "  Gilpin,  1233;  Elliot,  379. 

'  Notes  on  Virginia,  end  of  the  ^  Gilpin,  1355 ;  Elliot,  440. 
answer  to  query  22;   Jefferson,  i. 


148  THE   FEDEKAL    CONYEXTIOlSr. 

CHAP,  states   the   appointmeut   of    tlie   officers.'"     In   tlie 
•^^r-^  opinion  of  Ellswortli,  tlie  motion  went  too  far.    "  The 
17  87.  militia   should   be   under   rules    established  by  the 
18.     general  government  when  in  actual  service  of  the 
United  States.     The  whole  authority  over  it  ought 
by  no  means  to  be  taken  fi'om  the  states.     Their 
consequence  would  pine  away  to  nothing  after  such 
a   sacrifice  of  power.     The  general  authority  could 
not  sufficiently  pervade  the  union  for  the  purpose, 
nor   accommodate   itself  to   the  local  genius  of  the 
people.'"     Sherman  supported  him.     "My  opinion 
is,"  said  Dickinson,  "  that  the  states  never  ought  to 
give  up  all  authority  over  the  militia,  and  never  will." ' 
Swayed  by  Dickinson,  Mason  modified  his  original 
motion,    which   Cotesworth   Pinckney    instantly   re- 
newed.    A  grand  committee  of  eleven,  to  which  this 
21      among  other  subjects  w^as  refeiTcd,  soon  reported* 
that   the  legislature  should  have   j)ower  "  to  make 
laAvs   for   organizing,    arming,    and    disciplining   the 
militia,  and  for  governing  such  part  of  them  as  may 
be  employed  in  the  service  of  the  United  States." 
Ellsworth  and  Sherman  accepted  the  latter  part  of 
23      the  clause,  but  resisted  the  former.     "  The  discij)line 
of  the  militia,"  answered  Madison,  "  is   evidently  a 
national  concern,  and  ought  to  be  pi'ovided  for  in  the 
national  constitution." '     And  the  clause  was  adopted 
by  nine  states  against  Connecticut  and  Maryland." 

Madison  always  w^ished  to  reser^^e  to  the  United 
States  the  appointment  of  general  officers  in  the 
militia.     This  Sherman  pronounced  absolutely  inad- 

'  r.il|)iii,  1:501;  Elliot,  443.  '  Gilpin,  1378;  Elliot,  451. 

'  Il.id.  •Gili)in,  1400;  Elliot,  400. 

»  Gilj)in,  1302;  Elliot,  444.  •  Gilpin,  1407;  Elliot,  400. 


THE   POWEES    OF    CONGEESS.  149 

missible.  "As  the  states  are  not  to  be  abolislied,"  cttap. 
said  Gerry,  "  I  wonder  at  tlie  attempts  to  give  pow-  «--^ 
ers  inconsistent  with  tlieir  existence/     A  civil  war  i^sY. 

Aug. 

may  be  produced  by  the  conflict  between  people  who  23. 
will  support  a  plan  of  vigorous  government  at  every 
risk  and  others  of  a  more  democratic  cast."  "  The 
greatest  danger,"  said  Madison,  "is  disunion  of  the 
states ;  it  is  necessary  to  guard  against  it  by  sufficient 
powers  to  the  common  government ;  the  greatest  dan- 
ger to  liberty  is  from  large  standing  armies ;  it  is  best 
to  prevent  them  by  an  effectual  provision  for  a  good 
militia." '  Madison  gained  for  his  motion  only  New 
Hampshire,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia.^ 

The  appointment  of  officers  by  the  states  was  then 
agreed  to ;  and  the  states  were  to  train  the  militia, 
but  according  to  the  discipline  prescribed  by  the 
United  States.* 

The  power  "  to  make  all  laws  necessary  and  proper  20. 
for  carrying  into  execution  the  powers  vested  by  this 
constitution  in  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
or  in  any  department  or  office  thereof,"  was  so  clearly 
necessary  that,  without  cavil  or  remark,  it  was  unani- 
mously agreed  to.^ 

The  definition  of  treason  against  the  United  States, 
thou2:h  made  in  languao-e  like  that  of  the  English 
law,  took  notice  of  the  federal  character  of  the  Ameri- 
can government  by  defining  it  as  levying  war  against 
the  United  States  or  any  one  of  them ;  thus  reserving 
to  the  United  States  the  power  to  punish  treason, 
whether  by  war  against  the  United  States  or  by  war 

•  Gilpin,  1407;  Elliot,  460.  "  Gilpin,  1408;  Elliot,  466. 

*  Gilpin,  1407;  Elliot,  466,  467.  »  Gilpin,  1370;  Elliot,  447. 
"  Gilpin,  1407, 1408;  Elliot,  407. 


150  THE   FEDEEAL    CONYENTIOlSr. 

CHAP,  against  a  state.  Johnson  was  of  opinion  that  there 
— ^  could  be  no  treason  against  a  particular  state  even 
^l^"^'  under  tlie  confederation,  niucli  less  under  the  pro- 
20!  posed  system.  Mason  answered :  "  The  United  States 
\Yill  have  a  qualified  sovereignty  only ;  the  individual 
states  will  retain  a  part  of  the  sovereignty."  "  A  re- 
bellion in  a  state,"  said  Johnson,  "  would  amount  to 
treason  against  the  supreme  sovereign,  the  United 
States."  "  Treason  against  a  state,"  said  King,  "  must 
be  treason  as-ainst  the  United  States."  Sherman  dif- 
f ered  fi'om  him,  saying :  "  Resistance  against  the  laws 
of  the  United  States  is  distinguished  fi'om  resistance 
against  the  laws  of  a  particular  state."  Ellsworth 
added :  "  The  United  States  are  sovereign  on  one 
side  of  the  line  dividing  the  jurisdictions,  the  states 
on  the  other.  Each  ought  to  have  power  to  defend 
their  respective  sovereignties."'  "War  or  insmrec- 
tion  against  a  member  of  the  Union,"  said  Dickinson, 
"  must  be  so  against  the  whole  body."  The  clause  as 
amended,  evading  the  question,  spoke  only  of  trea- 
son by  levying  war  against  the  United  States  or  ad- 
hering to  their  enemies,  giving  them  aid  or  comfort. 
No  note  was  taken  of  the  falsification  of  election 
returns,  or  the  dangers  peculiar  to  elective  govern- 
ments. Martin  relates  that  he  wished  an  amendment 
excepting  citizens  of  any  state  from  the  penalty  of 
treason,  when  they  acted  expressly  in  obedience  to 
the  authority  of  their  own  state ;  but  seeing  that  a 
motion  to  that  effect  would  meet  with  no  favor,  he  at 
the  time  shut  up  the  thought  within,  his  own  breast." 

•  CJilpin,  1375;  Elliot,  4.10.  Die  Vcreinifjton  Stnatcn  von  Nord- 

'  Elliot,  i.   383,   3b3;  lleiiiuinii,     amcrika  im  Dbcryaiigc  vom  Staat- 


THE    POWERS    OF    COIS^GEESS.  151 

Tlie  members  of  tlie  convention  long;  held  in  "  recol-  chap. 

.  VIII 

lection  tlie  pain  and  difficulty  whicli  tlie  subject  of  .--^ 
slavery  caused  in  that  body,"  and  which  "  had  well-  ^^u  '^' 
nigh  led  southern  states  to  break  it  up  without  com-  20. 
ing  to  any  determination." '  The  members  from  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia  were  moved  by  the  extreme  de- 
sire of  preserving  the  union  and  obtaining  an  efficient 
government;  but  as  their  constituents  could  not  be 
reconciled  to  the  immediate  prohibition  of  the  slave- 
trade  by  the  act  of  the  United  States,  they  demanded 
that  their  states  should  retain  on  that  subject  the  lib- 
erty of  choice  which  all  then  possessed  under  the  con- 
federation. Unwilling  to  break  the  union  into  frag- 
ments, the  committee  of  detail  proposed  limitations 
of  the  power  of  congress  to  regulate  commerce.  No 
tax  might  be  laid  on  exports,  nor  on  fhe  importation 
of  slaves.  As  to  the  slave-trade,  each  state  was  to 
remain,  as  under  the  articles  of  confederation,  free 
to  import  such  persons  as  it  "  should  think  proper 
to  admit."  The  states  might,  one  by  one,  each  for 
itself,  prohibit  the  slave-trade ;  not  the  United  States 
by  a  general  law.  This  decision  was  coupled  with 
no  demand  of  pri\nleges  for  the  shipping  interest. 
Ellsworth,  in  the  committee,  had  consented,  uncon- 
ditionally, that  no  navigation  act  should  be  passed 
without  the  assent  of  two  thirds  of  the  members 
present  in  each  house. 

enbund    zum    BuncTesstaat,     216,  again:    "But   this  provision  was 

note.      I  think    Martin    did    not  not  adopted."     Here  is  no  direct 

make  the  motion,  as  it  is  found  assertion  that   he   made   the  mo- 

neither  in  tlie  journal  nor  in  Mad-  tion.      Reimann's  short  history  is 

ison.     His   narrative    is,    perhaps,  fair  and  accurate, 

equivocal.      His   words   are:     "I  ^  Baldwin's  Speech  in  the  House, 

wished  to  have   obtained";   and  13  Feb.,  1790. 


152  THE  FEDERAL  CONVENTION. 

CHAP.  The  j)roliibition  to  tax  exports  was  carried  by  Massa- 
chusetts and  Connecticut  with  the  five  most  southern 
states/  Thus  absolute  free  trade  as  to  exports  be- 
came a  part  of  the  fundamental  law  of  the  United 
States.  The  vote  of  Virginia  was  due  to  Mason,  Ran- 
dolph, and  Blair ;  Washington  and  Madison  were  al- 
ways unwilling  to  seem  to  favor  a  local  interest,  espe- 
cially a  southern  one,  and  were  ready  to  trust  the 
subject  to  the  general  government." 

From  Maryland  came  a  voice  against  the  slave-trade. 
For  three  reasons  Martin  proposed  a  prohibition  or 
tax  on  the  importation  of  slaves :  the  importation  of 
slaves  affects  the  apportionment  of  representation; 
weakens  one  part  of  the  union  which  the  other  parts 
are  bound  to  protect ;  and  dishonors  the  princij)les  of 
the  revolution  and  the  American  character.' 

Rutledge  answered :  "  Religion  and  humanity  have 
nothing  to  do  with  this  question ;  interest  alone  is  the 
governing  principle  with  nations.  The  true  question 
at  present  is,  whether  the  southern  states  shall  or 
shall  not  be  parties  to  the  union  ?  The  increase  of 
slaves  will  increase  the  commodities,  of  which  the 
northern  states  will  become  the  carriers.'"  Ells- 
worth, speaking  consistently  with  the  respect  which 
he  had  always  shown  for  the  rights  of  the  states, 
answered :  "  I  am  for  leaving  the  clause  as  it  stands. 
Let  every  state  import  what  it  pleases.  The  morality 
or  wisdom  of  slavery  are  considerations  belonging  to 
the  states  themselves.  The  old  confederation  did 
not  meddle  with  this  point ;  and  I  do  not  see  any 

«  Cilpin,  1388;  Elliot,  450.  "  Gilpin,  1888;  Elliot,  457. 

■'  ibid.  *  Gilpiu,  1389 ;  Elliot,  457. 


THE   POWERS    OF   CONGRESS.  153    . 

greater  necessity  for  bringing  it  witliiu  the  policy  of  chap. 

the  new  one."  *    "  South  Carolina,"  said  Charles  Piuck- ,^i. 

ney,  "  can  never  receive  the  plan  if  it  prohibits  the  1 7  ^  7. 
slave-trade."  Sherman  was  perplexed  between  his  Aug. 
belief  in  the  inherent  rii>:ht  of  man  to  freedom  and 
the  tenet  of  the  right  of  each  state  to  settle  for 
itself  its  internal  affairs,  and  said :  "I  disapprove  of 
the  slave-trade ;  yet,  as  the  states  are  now  possessed 
of  the  right  to  import  slaves,  and  as  it  is  expedient 
to  have  as  few  objections  as  possible  to  the  proposed 
scheme  of  government,  I  think  it  best  to  leave  the 
matter  as  we  find  it."  ' 

Mason,  compressing  the  observation  of  a  long  life 
into  a  few  burning  words,  replied :  "  This  infernal 
traffic  originated  ki  the  avarice  of  British  merchants ; 
the  British  government  constantly  checked  the  at- 
tempts of  Virginia  to  put  a  stop  to  it.  The  present 
question  concerns  not  the  importing  states  alone,  but 
the  whole  union.  Maryland  and  Virginia  have  already 
prohibited  the  importation  of  slaves  expressly ;  North 
Carolina  has  done  the  same  in  substance.  All  this 
would  be  in  vain  if  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  be 
at  liberty  to  import  them.  The  western  people  are 
already  calling  out  for  slaves  for  their  new  lands,  and 
will  fill  that  country  with  slaves  if  they  can  be  got 
through  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  Slavery  dis- 
courages arts  and  manufactures.  The  poor  despise 
labor  when  performed  by  slaves.  They  prevent  the 
emigration  of  whites,  who  really  enrich  and  strengthen 
a  country.  They  produce  the  most  pernicious  effect 
on  manners.     Every  master  of  slaves  is  born  a  i)etty 

^  Gilpin,  1389;  Elliot,  457.  '^  Gilpin,  1390;  Elliot,  457. 


.154  •         THE   FEDEEAL   CO]STENTIO]Sr. 

CHAP,  tji'ant.     Tliey  bring  tlie  judgment  of  Heaven  on  a 
^.^-.-^  country.  ^  As  nations  cannot  be  rewarded  or  punished 
^l^J^'  in  tlie  next  world,  tliey  must  be  in  tliis.     By  an  in- 
22.     evitable  chain  of  causes  and  effects,  Providence  pun- 
ishes national  sins  by  national  calamities.     I  lament 
that  some  of  our  eastern  brethren  have,  from  a  lust 
of  gain,  embarked  in  this  nefarious  traffic.    As  to  the 
states  being  in  possession  of  the  right  to  import,  this 
is  the  case  with  many  other  rights,  now  to  be  proper- 
ly given  up.     I  hold  it  essential  in  every  point  of 
view,  that  the  general  government  should  have  power 
to  prevent  the  increase  of  slavery."*     Mason  spoke 
from  his  inmost  soul,  anxious  for  the  happiness  of  his 
country  and  the  welfare  of  mankind. 

To  words  of  such  intense  sincerity  Ellsv/orth  an- 
swered with  almost  mocking  irony :  "  As  I  have 
never  owned  a  slave  I  cannot  judge  of  the  effects  of 
slaveiy  on  character.  If,  however,  it  is  to  be  con- 
sidered in  a  moral  light,  w^e  ought  to  go  further  and 
free  the  slaves  already  in  the  country.  Besides, 
slaves  multiply  so  fast  in  Virginia  and  Maryland, 
that  it  is  cheaper  to  raise  than  import  them,  whilst 
in  the  sickly  rice-swamps  foreign  supplies  are  neces- 
sary; if  we  go  no  further  than  is  urged,  we  shall 
be  unjust  toward  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  Let 
us  not  intermeddle.  As  population  increases,  poor 
laborers  will  be  so  plenty  as  to  render  slaves  use- 
less. Slavery,  in  time,  will  not  be  a  speck  in  our 
country.  Provision  is  made  in  Connecticut  for  abol- 
ishing it ;  and  the  abolition  has  already  taken  place 
in  Massachusetts."' 

'  Gilpin,  13!)0,  1391;  Elliot,  458.  ^  Gilpin,  1392;  Elliot,  458. 


THE   POWERS    OF    CONGEESS.  155 

"  If  tlie  soutliem  states  are  let  alone,"  said  Cliarles  chap. 

VIII 

Pinckney,  "  tliey  will  probably  of  tliemselves  stop  im-  s ^ 

portations.     I  would  myself,  as  a  citizen  of  Soutli  ^l^J' 
Carolina,  vote  for  it."  2^- 

In  the  same  vein  Coteswortli  Pinckney  remarked : 
"  If  I  and  all  my  colleagues  were  to  sign  tlie  consti- 
tution and  use  our  personal  influence,  it  would  be  of 
no  avail  toward  obtaining  the  consent  of  our  constitu- 
ents. South  Carolina  and  Greorgia  cannot  do  with- 
out slaves.  Virginia  will  gain  by  stopping  the  im- 
portations. Her  slaves  will  rise  in  value,  and  she  has 
more  than  she  wants.  It  would  be  un'equal  to  re- 
quire South  Carolina  and  Georgia  to  confederate  on 
such  terms.  Slaves  should  be  dutied  like  other  im- 
ports ;  but  a  rejection  of  the  clause  is  the  exclusion 
of  South  Carolina  from  the  union."  '  Baldwin,  with 
opinions  on  the  rights  of  the  states  like  those  of  Ells- 
worth and  Sherman,  continued :  "  The  object  before 
the  convention  is  not  national,  but  local.  Georsfia 
cannot  purchase  the  advantage  of  a  general  govern- 
ment by  yielding  the  abridgment  of  one  of  her  favor- 
ite prerogatives.  If  left  to  herseK,  she  may  probably 
put  a  stop  to  the  evil."  ^ 

"If  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,"  observed  "Wil- 
son, "  are  themselves  disposed  to  get  rid  of  the  im- 
portation of  slaves  in  a  short  time,  they  will  never 
refuse  to  unite  because  the  importation  might  be  pro- 
hibited."' To  this  Cotesworth  Pinckney  made  an- 
swer :  "  I  think  myself  bound  to  declare  candidly,  that 
I  do  not  believe  South  Carolina  will  stop  her  impor- 

»  Gilpin,  1392,  1393;  Elliot,  459.  »  Gilpiu,  1393;  Elliot,  459. 

'  Gilpin,  1393;  Elliot,  459. 


IT  8  7. 
Aus. 


156  THE   FEDEEAL    CO]STE]SrTIO]!ir. 

CHAP,  tatious  of  slaves  iu  any  sliort  time,  except  occasion- 

VIII. 

— r^  ally  as  slie  now  does."  ' 

"  On  every  principle  of  honor  and  safety,"  said 
Dickinson,  "it  is  inadmissible  tliat  tlie  importation  of 
slaves  should  be  authorized  to  the  states  by  the  con- 
stitution. The  true  question  is  whether  the  national 
happiness  will  be  promoted  or  impeded  by  the  impor- 
tation; and  this  question  ought  to  be  left  to  the 
national  government,  not  to  the  states  particularly 
interested.  I  cannot  believe  that  the  southern  states 
will  refuse  to  confederate  on  that  account,  as  the 
power  is  not  likely  to  be  immediately  exercised  by 
the  general  government." '  .  Here  was  the  first  open- 
ing to  a  grant  of  the  power,  coupled  with  a  prospect 
of  delay  in  using  it. 

AVilliamson,  himself  no  friend  of  slavery,  distinctly 
intimated  that  ^N^orth  Carolina  would  go  Avith  her  two 
neighbors  on  the  south.  Cotes  worth  Piuckney  now 
moved  to  commit  the  clause,  that  slaves  might  be 
made  liable  to  an  equal  tax  with  other  imports.'  "  If 
the  convention,"  said  Rutledge,  "  thinks  that  ^N^orth 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia  will  ever  agree 
to  the  plan,  unless  their  right  to  import  slaves  be  un- 
touched, the  expectation  is  vain ; "  and  he  seconded  the 
motion  for  a  commitment.  Gouverneur  Morris  wished 
the  whole  subject  to  be  committed,  including  the 
clauses  relating  to  taxes  on  exports  and  to  a  naviga- 
tion act.  These  things  might  form  a  bargain  among 
the  northern  and  southern  states.  "Rather  than  to 
part  with  the  soutliern  states,"  said  Sherman,  "  it  is 

•  fJilpin,  1.305;  Elliot,  400.  "  Gilpin,  1305;  Elliot,  460. 

»  Gilpin,  13'J4;  Elliot,  400. 


THE   POWERS    OF    CO:^rGEESS.  157 

better  to  let  tliem  import  slaves.     But  a  tax  on  slaves  chap. 
imported  makes  tlie  matter  worse,  because  it  implies 
they  are  property." 

"  Two  states,"  said  Kandolpli,  "  may  be  lost  to  tlie 
union  ;  let  us,  then,  try  the  chance  of  a  commit- 
ment."* The  motion  for  commitment  was  adopted 
by  the  votes  of  Connecticut,  New  Jersey,  and  the  five 
southernmost  states,  against  New  Hampshire,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  Delaware;  Massachusetts  was  absent. 

Charles  Pinckney  and  Langdon  then  moved  to  com- 
mit the  section  relating  to  a  navigation  act."  "  I  de- 
sire it  to  be  remembered,"  said  Gorham,  remotely  hint- 
ing at  possible  secession,  "the  eastern  states  have.no 
motive  to  union  but  a  commercial  one." '  Ellsworth, 
maintaining  the  position  which  he  had  deliberately 
chosen,  answered :  "  I  am  for  taking  the  plan  as  it 
is.  If  we  do  not  aixree  on  this  middle  and  moderate 
ground,  I  am  afraid  we  shall  lose  two  states  wdth 
others  that  may  stand  aloof ;  and  fly,  most  probably, 
into  several  confederations,  not  without  bloodshed."* 

Had  the  convention  listened  to  no  compromise  on 
the  slave-trade,  Georgia  and  South  Carolina  would  not 
have  accepted  the  new  constitution ;  North  Carolina 
would  have  clung  to  them,  from  its  internal  condition ; 
Yu'ginia,  however  earnest  might  have  been  the  pro- 
test against  it  by  Madison  and  Washington,  must 
have  acted  with  North  Carolina,  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence, there  would  from  the  beginning  have  been 
a  federation  of  slave-holding  states.  The  committee 
to  which  the  whole  subject  of  restriction  on  the  power 

•  Gilpin,  1396;  Elliot,  461.  =  Gilpin,  1397;  Elliot,  461. 

"Gili^m,  1897;  Elliot,  461.  *  Ibid. 


158  THE    FEDEEAL    CONVElSTTTOlSr. 

CHAP,  over  commerce  was  refeiTed  consisted  of  Lanardon, 

VIII         -r.  ....  r>  7 

v^,-^!.  King,  Jolmson,  tlie  aged  William  Livingston  of  New 
J  ^J-  Jersey,  Clymer,  Dickinson,  Martin,  Madison,  William- 


Au; 


22.  son,  Coteswortli  Pinckney,  and  Baldwin,*  a  large  ma- 
jority of  tliem  venerable  for  upriglitness  and  ability. 

24.  Tlieii'  report,  made  on  tlie  third  day,  granted  to  the 
United  States  tke  power  to  lay  a  tax  of  ten  dollars  on 
every  imported  slave/  and  the  power  to  prohibit  the 
slave-trade  after  the  year  1800. 

23.  On  the  twenty -fifth,  when  the  report  of  the  commit- 
tee of  eleven  was  taken  up,  Sherman  once  more  resist- 
ed the  duty  "  as  acknowledging  men  to  be  property  " 
by  taxing  them  as  such  under  the  character  of  slaves ; 
and  Madison  supported  him,  saying :  "  I  think  it 
wrong  to  admit  in  the  constitution  the  idea  that  there 
can  be  property  in  men." '  But  the  clause  was  unani- 
mously held  fast  as  a  discouragement  of  the  traffic. 

Cotesworth  Pinckney  then  moved  to  extend  the 
time  allowed  for  the  importation  of  slaves  till  the 
year  1808.  Gorham  was  his  second.  Madison  spoke 
earnestly  against  the  j)i'oloiig^tion ;  *  but,  mthout 
further  debate,  the  motion  prevailed  by  the  votes 
of  the  three  New  England  states,  Maryland,  and 
the  three  southernmost  states,  against  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and  Virginia.' 

"  It  ought  to  be  considered,"  wrote  ]\Iadison  at  the 
time,  "  as  a  great  point  gained  in  favor  of  humanity, 
that  a  period  of  twenty  years  may  terminate  forever 

'  fJil])'!!!,  1:397;  Elliot,  4G1.  proposed  on  all  articles  of  import. 

'  The  slave  was  deemed  to  have  Gilpin,  1415;  Elliot,  471. 
an  aveiiiffe  value  of  two  hundred         'Gilpin,  142!),  14:50;  Elliot,  478. 
dollars,  so  that  the  impost  was  of         *  Gilpin,  1437;  Elliot,  477. 
five  per  cent,  the  rate  at  one  time         *  Ibid. 


THE   POWERS    OF    CONGEESS.  159 

witliin  these  states  a  traffic  wliicli  has  so  lous;  and  so  crap. 

.  VIII 

loudly  upbraided  the  barbarism  of  rcodern  pohcy.  ^^^ 
Happy  would  it  be  for  the  unfortunate  Africans,  if  ^l^fj' 
an  equal  prospect  lay  before  them  of  being  redeemed     25. 
from  the  oppressions  of  their  European  brethren  ! " ' 

The  confederation  granted  no  power  to  interfere 
\vith  the  slave-trade.  The  new  constitution  gave 
power  to  prohibit  it  in  new  states  immediately  on 
their  admission,  in  existing  states  at  the  end  of  the 
year  1807.  Louisiana,  by  annexation  to  the  union, 
lost  the  license  to  receive  slaves  from  abroad.  On 
the  second  day  of  December,  1806,  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son, president  of  the  United  States  of  America,  ad- 
dressed this  message  to  congress : ^  "I  congratulate 
you,  fellow-citizens,  on  the  approach  of  the  period  at 
which  you  may  interpose  your  authority  constitution- 
ally to  withdraw  the  citizens  of  the  United  States 
from  all  further  participation  in  those  violations  of 
human  rights  w^hich  have  been  so  long  continued  on 
the  unoffending  inhabitants  of  Africa,  and  w^hich  the 
morality,  the  reputation,  and  the  best  interests  of  our 
country  have  long  been  eager  to  proscribe." 

Unanimous  legislation  followed  the  words  from  the 
president,  and  as  the  year  1808  broke  upon  the  United 
States,  the  importation  of  slaves  had  ceased.  And  did 
slavery  have  as  peaceful  an  end  ?  Philanthropy,  like 
genius  and  like  science,  must  bide  its  time.  Man  can- 
not hurry  the  march  of  the  supreme  power,  to  which 
years  are  as  days. 

Two  members  of  the  convention,  with  the  sincere 
integrity  which  clears  the  eye  for  prophetic  vision, 

*  The  Federalist,  No.  xlii.  "  Jom-nals  of  Congress,  v.  4G8. 


160  THE   FEDEEAL    COIfVENTION. 

CHAP,  read  tlie  doom   of  slavelioldins:.      Mason,   fourteen 
VIII  .  .  . 

.^.-^  years  before,  in  a  paper  laid  before  the   legislature 

^l^"^-  of  Virginia,  liad  given  his  opinion  that  as  the  nat- 
25?  ural  remedy  for  political  injustice  the  constitution 
should  by  degrees  work  itself  clear  by  its  o^vn  innate 
strength,  the  virtue  and  resolution  of  the  commu. 
nity ;  and  he  added :  "  The  laws  of  imjoartial  Provi- 
dence may  avenge  upon  our  posterity  the  injury 
done  to  a  set  of  wretches  whom  our  injustice  hath 
debased  almost  to  a  level  with  the  brute  creation. 
These  remarks  were  extorted  by  a  kind  of  iiTesistible, 
j)erhaps  an  enthusiastic,  impulse ;  and  the  s  athor  of 
them,  conscious  of  his  ovm  good  intentions,  cares  not 
whom  they  please  or  offend."  ' 

July  During  a  debate,  in  July,  on  the  value  of  slaves. 
Mason  observed  of  them  that  they  might  in  cases  of 
emergency  themselves  become  soldiers.""     On  another 

^"?-  day'  he  called  to  mind  that  Cromwell,  v/hen  he  sent 
commissioners  to  Virginia  to  take  possession  of  the 
countiy,  gave  them  power  to  arm  servants  and  slaves. 
He  further  pointed  out  that  the  British  might  have 
prevailed  in  the  South  in  the  war  of  the  revolution 
had  they  known  how  to  make  use  of  the  slaves ;  that 
in  Vii'ginia  the  royal  governor  invited  them  to  rise  at 
a  time  when  he  was  not  in  possession  of  the  country, 
and,  as  the  slaves  were  incapable  of  self-organization 
and  direction,  his  experiments  by  proclamation,  ad- 
dressed to  them  in  regions  not  within  his  sway,  totally 

*  George  Mason's  extracts  from  its  arcliivos.     IMj-  copy,  Avliich  is, 

the  Virjrinia  rliartors,  with    some  poiha]>s,  the  ojily  one  now  in  exist- 

remarks  on  tlicin,  made  in  tlic  year  ence,  I  owe  to  tlie  kindness  of  the 

177:}.      MS.      The    ])ii])(T,   tlionyh  Uite  James  M.  Mnson. 

commnnieatcd    to   the;    lcf,nsliitnre  "  Gilpin,  lOnS;  Elliot,  2flG. 

of  YiigiiiJa,  lias  not  been  found  in  '  Gilpin,  lOUO ;  Elliot,  458. 


11. 


22. 


THE   POWEES    OF    COJSTGRESS.  161 

failed ;  but  that  in  Soutli  Carolina,  wliere  the  British  chap. 

.  .  •  VIII 

were  ui  the  full  possession  of  the  countiy,  they  might  -^^-r-^L 
have  enfranchised  and  enrolled  the  slaves  for  the  con-  i  "^  s  7. 

Aug. 

solidation  and«  establishment  of  British  power.  But  22. 
the  civil  and  military  officers  in  those  days  of  abject 
conniption  chose  rather  to  enrich  themselves  by  ship- 
ping the  slaves  to  the  markets  of  the  West  Indies. 
Five  months  later  Madison,  in  a  paper  addressed  to 
the  country,  remarked :  "  An  unhappy  species  of  pop- 
ulation abounds  in  some  of  the  states  who,  during  the 
calm  of  the  regular  government,  are  sunk  below  the 
level  of  men  ;  but  who,  in  the  tempestuous  scenes  of 
civil  violence,  may  emerge  into  the  human  character, 
and  give  a  superiority  of  strength  to  any  party  with 
which  they  may  associate  themselves."  *  Slavehold- 
ing  was  to  be  borne  do^vn  only  on  the  field  of  battle. 

The  dignity  and  interests  of  the  United  States  alike  29. 
demanded  a  grant  of  power  to  the  general  govern- 
ment for  the  reo:ulation  of  foreis^n  as  well  as  domestic 
trade.  AVithout  it  the  navigation  of  the  country 
would  have  been  at  the  mercy  of  foreign  restrictions. 
For  this  regulation  the  new  constitution  required, 
as  in  all  other  acts  of  legislation,  no  more  than  a 
majority  of  the  two  houses  of  congress.  A  strong 
opposition  started  up  in  the  South  under  the  lead 
of  Charles  Pinckney  and  Martin,  inflamed  by  Ma- 
son and  by  Randolph;  but  it  was  in  vain.  Madi- 
son, Spaight,  and  Rutledge  defended  the  report  of 
the  eleven  like  statesmen,  free  from  local  influences 
or  prejudice.  It  was  clearly  stated  that  the  ships 
of  nations  in  treaty  with  the  United  States  would 

*  Madison  in  the  Federalist,  No.  xliii,  published  23  Jan.,  1788. 

VOL.  II.  11 


162  THE  FEDEEAL  CONVENTION. 

CHAP,  share  in  tlieii*  carrying  trade ;  tliat  a  rise  in  freight 
could  be  but  temporary,  because  it  would  be  attend- 
ed by  an  increase  of  southern  as  well  as  of  north- 
em  shipping ;  that  the  West  India  trade  was  a  great 
object  to  be  obtained  only  through  the  pressure 
of  a  navigation  act.  Cotesworth  Pinckney  owned 
that  he  had  been  prejudiced  against  the  eastern 
states,  but  had  found  their  delegates  as  liberal  and  as 
candid  as  any  men  whatever.  On  the  question,  Dela- 
ware and  South  Carolina  joined  the  united  North 
against  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and 
Georgia.  After  this  vote  the  convention  accepted 
unanimously  the  proposition  to  grant  to  the  majority 
in  the  two  branches  of  congress  full  power  to  make 
laws  regulating  commerce  and  navigation.  Randolph 
was  so  much  dissatisfied  that  he  expressed  a  "doubt 
whether  he  should  be  able  to  agree  to  the  constitu- 
tion." Mason,  more  deeply  in  earnest,  as  yet  held 
his  emotions  in  check. 

Of  new  states,  the  Virginia  plan  knew  those  only 
"lawfully  arising  within  the  limits  of  the  United 
States,"  and  for  their  admission  vaguely  required  less 
than  a  unanimous  vote ;  the  committee  of  detail  de- 
manded the  consent  of  two  thirds  of  each  house  of 
congress,  as  well  as  the  concuiTence  of  the  states 
witliin  whose  "limits"  the  new  states  should  arise. 

At  this  stage  Gouverneur  Morris  enlarged  the  scope 
and  simplified  the  language  of  the  article.  The  con- 
federation had  opened  the  door  to  Canada  at  its 
own  choice  alone,  and  to  any  otlier  territory  that 
could  obtain  the  consent  of  two  thirds  of  congress. 
It  was  no  longer  decent  to  hold  out  to  Canada  an 


THE   POWERS    OF    COIS-GEESS.  163 

invitation   to   annex   itself    to   tlie   union ;   but   the  chap. 

vni 
American   mind,  in  tlie    streugtli   of    independence,  .^-^ 

foresaw  its  expansion.  The  rising  states  beyond  the  ^J^J' 
mountains  were  clamorous  for  the  unobstructed  na\d-  29^ 
gation  of  the  Mississippi,  which  might  lead  to  the 
acquisition  by  treaty  of  all  the  land  east  of  that 
river;  and  the  boundary  on  the  south,  as  well  of 
Georgia  as  of  Florida,  had  never  been  adjusted  with 
Spain.  Gouverneur  Morris  had  at  an  early  day  de- 
sired to  restrict  the  limits  of  the  United  States ;  he 
now  gave  his  ancient  fears  to  the  winds,  and,  acceding 
in  advance  to  the  largest  eventual  annexations,  he 
proposed  these  few  and  simple  words :  "  New  states 
may  be  admitted  by  the  legislature  into  the  union," ' 
with  the  full  understandino;  *  and  intention  that  an 
ordinary  act  of  legislation  should  be  sufficient  by  a 
bare  majority  to  introduce  foreign  territory  as  a  state 
into  the  union.  This  clause  the  convention  accepted 
without  a  debate,  and  without  a  division. 

Maryland,  impelled  by  a  desire  to  guard  the  right  so. 
of  the  United  States  to  the  back  lands,  and  to  be 
the  champion  of  Kentucky,  of  Maine,  of  Vermont, 
and  of  the  settlements  on  the  Tennessee  river  and  its 
branches,  would  have  granted  to  the  legislature  of 
the  United  States  unlimited  power  to  dismember  old 
states,  but  was  supported  only  by  Delaware  and  New 
Jersey.  Vermont  might  once  have  been  included 
within  "  the  limits  "  of  New  York,  but  certainly  re- 
mained no  longer  within  its  jurisdiction.  By  chang- 
ing the  word  "  limits  "  to  "  jurisdiction,"  the  conven-. 

*  Gilpin,  1458  ;  Elliot,  493.  neur  Morris  bv  Sparks,   iii.   183,\ 

"Life  and  Writings  of  Gouver-     185,290.    Cooley's  Story,  1383,  etc. ' 


164  THE   FEDEKAL    CONVEISTTION. 

CHAP,  tion,  still  following  Gouverneur  Morris,  provided  for 
v^-,.,^.  its  future  admission  to  the  union  without  the  con- 
1  "^  8  Y.  sent  of  New  York.     In  resrard  to  the  south-western 

Aug.  .      .         o 

30.  settlements,  the  preliminary  consent  of  the  states  of 
w^hich  they  then  formed  a  part  was  not  dispensed 
with.  In  like  manner  no  state  could  be  formed  by 
the  junction  of  two  or  more  states  or  parts  thereof 
without  the  concurrence  of  such  states.  The  country 
north-west  of  the  Ohio  ha\dng  already  been  provided 
for,  the  rule  for  the  admission  of  new  states  was  thus 
completed  for  every  part  of  the  territory  of  the  states 
or  of  the  United  States.  The  convention,  still  using 
the  lano-uasre  of  Gouverneur  Morris,  and  no  one  but 
Maryland  dissenting,  assigned  to  the  legislature  the 
power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all  needful  rules  and 
regulations  respecting  the  territory  or  other  property 
belonging  to  the  United  States. 

Every  word  in  the  constitution  bearing  on  the  sub- 
ject of  slavery  was  chosen  v\dth  the  greatest  caution ; 
every  agreement  was  jealously  guarded.  After  the 
section  relating  to  the  slave-trade,  the  committee  of 
detail  inserted :  "  No  capitation  tax  shall  be  laid  un- 
less in  proportion  to  the  census  hereinbefore  directed 
to  be  taken.'"  This  was  intended  to  j^revent  con- 
gress from  enforcing  a  general  emancipation  by  the 
special  taxation  of  slaves." 

*  Gilpin,  1234,  1415  ;  Elliot,  379,         *  Speech  of  Baldwin  in  the  house 
471.  of  representatives,  12  Feb.,  1790. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  PRESIDENT. 

How  to  call  forth  one  of  the  people  to  be  their  chap. 
executive  chief  for  a  limited  period  of  years,  and  — r^ 
how  to  clothe  him  with  just  sufficient  powers,  long  i  "^  §  v. 
baffled    the    convention.      Federal    governments,    in 
Greece,  in   Switzerland,   and   in   Holland,   like   the 
confederation  of  the  United  States,  had  been  with- 
out a  separate  executive  branch ;   and  the  elective 
monarchies  of  Poland,  of  the  Papal  states,  and  of 
Germany,  offered  no  available  precedents.     The  re-    Aug. 
port  of  the  committee  of  detail  introduced  no  im- 
provement in  the  manner  of  selecting  a  president; 
and  it  transferred  to  the  senate  the  power  to  make 
treaties  and  to  appoint  ambassadors  and  judges  of 
the  supreme  court.'     Questions  relating  to  his  du- 
ties long  remained  in  doubt ;  the  mode  of  his  elec- 
tion was  reached  only  just  before  the  close  of  the 
convention. 

The  Virginia  plan  confided  the  choice  of  the  ex-    July 
ecutive  to  the  national  legislature.  ,  "  An  election  by 
the  national  legislature,"  objected  Gouverneur  Morris, 

» Gilpin,  1234;  ElHot,  379. 


166  THE   FEDEEAL    COI^VENTION. 

CHAP,  on  the  seventeentli  of  July,  "will  be  the  work  of 
intrigue,  of  cabal,  of  corruption,  and  of  faction ;  it 
T\'ill  be  like  tlie  election  of  a  j^ope  by  a  conclave 
of  cardinals ;  of  a  king  by  tlie  diet  of  Poland ;  real 
merit  will  rarely  be  the  title  to  the  appointment." 
He  moved  for  an  election  by  the  "  citizens  of  the 
United  States."  *  Sherman  preferred  a  choice  by 
the  national  legislature.  Wilson  insisted  on  an  elec- 
tion by  the  people ;  should  no  one  have  a  majority, 
then,  and  then  only,  the  legislature  might  decide  be- 
tween the  candidates.'^  Charles  Pinckney  opposed 
the  election  by  the  people,  because  it  would  sur- 
render the  choice  to  a  combination  of  the  populous 
states  led  by  a  few  designing  men."  "  To  refer  the 
choice  of  a  proper  character  for  a  chief  magistrate  to 
the  people,"  protested  Mason,  "  w^ould  be  as  unnatural 
as  to  refer  a  trial  of  colors  to  a  blind  man."  *  "  An 
election  by  the  people,"  observed  Williamson,  "  is  an 
a]3pointment  by  lot."  On  the  first  vote  Pennsylvania 
stood  alone  against  nine  states.  Martin  proposed  to 
entrast  the  appointment  to  the  legislatures  of  the 
states ;  and  was  supported  only  by  Delaware  and 
Maryland. 

On  the  mode  of  choosing  the  president,  the  length 
of  his  period  of  office  and  his  re-eligibility  would 
be  made  to  depend.  The  convention,  in  committee, 
had  fixed  tliat  period  at  seven  years  with  a  prohibi- 
tion of  re-election.  Oh  the  motion  of  William  Hous- 
ton, of  Georgia,  supported  by  Sherman  and  Gouver- 
neur  Morris,  tliis  compulsory  rotation  was  struck  out 

»  r.ilpin,  1120;  7':iliot,  322.  »  Gilpin,  1121;  Elliot,  323. 

="  CJilpin,  1121;  Elliot,  323.  *  Gili)iu,  1123;  Elliot,  324. 


TIIE   PEESIDENT.  167 

by  six  states,  against  Delaware,  Virginia,   and  tlie  chap. 
two  Carolinas.'     Tlie  executive  becoming  re-eligible,  ^^ 
Broom  revived  tlie  idea  of  a  shorter  period  of  ser-  ij^^^- 
vice/     McClurg   held  that  the  independence  of  the     iv. 
executive  was  no  less  essential  than  the  independence 
of  the  judiciary ;  that  a  president,  elected  for  a  small 
number  of  years  by  the  national  legislature,  and  look- 
ing to  that  body  for  re-election,  would  be  its  depend- 
ent.    To  escape  from  corrupt  cabals  and  yet  preserve 
a  good  officer  in  place,  he  moved  that  the  tenure  of 
office  should  be  good  behavior."     Gouvemeur  Morris 
beamed  with  joy.     Broom  found  all  his  difficulties 
obviated.     "  Such  a  tenure,"  interposed  Sherman,  "  is 
neither  safe  nor  admissible ;   re-election  will  depend 
on  o-ood  behavior."* 

Madison,  who  to  the  last  refused  with  unabated 
vigor  to  entrust  the  choice  of  the  national  executive 
to  the  national  legislature,  and  at  heart  would  not 
have  been  greatly  disinclined  to  the  longest  period 
of  service  for  the  executive,  if  "  an  easy  and  effectual 
removal  by  impeachment  could  have  been  settled," " 
argued  from  the  necessity  of  keeping  the  executive, 
legislative,  and  judiciary  powers  independent  of  each 
other,  that  the  tenure  of  good  behavior  for  the  ex- 
ecutive was  a  less  evil  than  its  dependence  on  the 
national  leg^islature  for  re-election. 

Mason  replied :  "An  executive  during  good  behav- 
ior is  only  a  softer  name  for  an  executive  for  life; 
the  next  easy  step  w^ill  be  to  hereditary  monarchy. 
Should  the  motion  succeed,  I  may  myself  live  to  see 

»  Gilpin,  1125;  Elliot,  325.  "  Gilpin,  1126;  Elliot,  325. 

"  Ibid.  *  Compare  Madison's  Writings,  i. 

«Ibid.  345,  and  Gilpin,  1127;  Elliot,  32G. 


168  THE   FEDEEAL    CONVEISTTION". 

such  a  revolutiori."*  "To  prevent  tlie  introduction 
of  monarcliy,"  rejoined  Madison,  "  is,  with  me,  tlie 
^j^^'^-  real  object.     Experience  proves  a  tendency  in  our 

17-  governments  to  throw  all  power  into  the  legislative 
vortex.  The  executives  of  the  states  are  in  general 
little  more  than  ciphers ;  the  legislatures  omnipo- 
tent. If  no  effectual  check  be  devised  on  the  en- 
croachments of  the  latter,  a  revolution  will  be  in- 
evitable." '  After  explanations  by  McClui'g,  four 
states — New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and 
Virginia,  Madison  voting  with  McClurg — expressed 
their  preference  for  the  tenure  of  good  behavior  to 
the  tenure  of  seven  years  with  a  perpetual  re-eligi- 
bility by  the  national  legislature.'  Massachusetts 
was  among  the  six  states  in  the  negative,  though  to 

20.  King,  who  "  relied  on  the  vigor  of  the  executive  as 
a  great  security  for  the  public  liberties,"  *  the  tenure 
of  good  behavior  would  have  been  most  agreeable, 
"  provided  an  independent  and  effectual  forum  could 
be  devised  for  the  trial  of  the  executive  on  an  im- 
peachment." ^ 

19.  This  discussion  brouo'ht  the  convention  unanimous- 
ly*  to  the  opinion  that  if  the  executive  was  to  be 
chosen  by  the  national  legislature,  he  ought  not  to  be 
re-eligible.  Those,  tlierefore,  who  agreed  with  Sher- 
man, that  the  statesman  who  had  proved  himself  most 
fit  for  an  office  ought  not  to  be  excluded  by  the  con- 

•  Gil2)in,     1137,     1128;     Elliot,  opinion,  the  very  essence  of  tyran- 

320.  ny,  if  tliere  be  any  such  thing," 

''Gilpin,  1128;  Elliot,  327.  Com-  Gilpin,  7GC;  Elliot,  142. 

pare  with  tlii.s  what  Sherman  said  "  (iilpin,  112i);  Elliot,  327. 

on   (he   first    day  of   June:    "An  MJiljjin,  Ilf)?;  Elliot,  342. 

independence  of  the  executive  on  "  Ibid, 

the  HU])reuie  leyLslaturc  is,  in  my  "  Gilpin,  1147;  Elliot,  337 


THE   PRESIDENT.  169 

stitution  from  lioldlno:  it,  were  bound  to  devise  some  cn.vp. 

^  .  IX. 

other  acceptable  mode  of  election.  s. — ^ 

The  first  thought  was  an  immediate  choice  by  the  ^j^^'^' 
people.  But  here  Madison  pointed  out  that  "the  i9- 
right  of  suffra2:e  was  much  more  diffusive  in  the 
northern  states  than  in  the  southern;  and  that  the 
latter  would  have  no  influence  in  the  election  on  the 
score  of  the  negroes."  *  To  meet  this  difficulty,  King 
revived  Wilson's  proposition  for  the  appointment  of 
the  executive  by  electors  chosen  by  the  people  ex- 
pressly for  the  purpose  ; "  and  Madison  promptly  ac- 
cepted it  as,  "  on  the  whole,  liable  to  fewest  objec- 
tions." '  So,  too,  in  part,  thought  the  convention, 
which,  on  the  motion  of  Ellsworth,  decided,  by  six 
states  to  three,  that  the  national  executive  should  be 
appointed  by  electors;  and,  by  eight  states  to  two, 
that  the  electors  should  be  chosen  by  the  state  legis- 
latures.^ A  preliminary  proportional  distribution  of 
the  electors  among  the  states,  as  proposed  by  Gerry, 
was  accepted.  From  confidence  in  the  purity  of  the 
electoral  body  thus  established,  the  re-eligibility  of 
the  executive  was  again  afiii'med  by  a  vote  of  eight 
states  against  the  two  Carolinas ; '  and  in  consequence 
of  the  re-eligibility,  the  term  of  office  was,  at  Ells- 
worth's motion,  reduced  by  the  vote  of  all  the  states 
but  Delaware  from  seven  years  to  six.'  So  the  con- 
vention hoped  to  escape  fi'om  the  danger  of  a  cor- 
rupt traffic  between  the  national  legislature  and  can- 
didates for  the  executive  by  assembling  in  one  place 
one  grand  electoral  college,  chosen  by  the  legislatures 

*  Gilpin,  1148;  Elliot,  337.  ■•  Gilpin,  1150;  Elliot,  338. 

"  Gilpin,  1147;  Elliot,  336.  »  Gilpin,  1150,  1151;  Elliot,  338. 

«  Gilpin,  1148;  Elliot,  337.  «  Gilpin,  1151,  1152;  Elliot,  339. 


170  THE  FEDEEAL  COXVENTION. 

CHAP,  of  tlie  several  states  at  tlie  moment  for  the  sole  piir- 

— ^r^  pose  of  electing  that  officer. 

17  87.  To  this  system  Caleb  Strong,  of  Massachusetts, 
24.  started  this  grave  objection :  "  A  new  set  of  men,  like 
the  electors,  will  make  the  government  too  complex; 
nor  will  the  first  characters  in  the  state  feel  suffi- 
cient motives  to  undertake  the  office."  *  On  the  pre- 
vious day  Houston,  of  Georgia,  had  directed  the 
thoughts  of  the  convention  "to  the  expense  and  ex- 
treme inconvenience  of  drawino;  too-ether  men  from 
all  the  states  for  the  single  purpose  of  electing  the 
chief  magistrate." '  To  him,  likewise,  it  now  seemed 
improbable  that  capable  men  would  undertake  the  ser- 
vice. He  was  afraid  to  trust  to  it.  Moved  by  these 
considerations,  but  still  retaining  its  conviction  of  the 
greater  j)urity  of  an  electoral  college,  the  convention, 
by  seven  votes  against  four,  Id  the  weariness  of  vacil- 
lation, returned  to  the  plan  of  electing  the  national 
executive  by  the  national  legislature.'  But  the  vote 
was  sure  to  reopen  the  question  of  his  re-eligibility. 

The  convention  was  now  like  a  pack  of  hounds  in 
full  chase,  suddenly  losing  the  trail.  It  fell  into  an 
anarchy  of  opinion,  and  one  crude  scheme  trod  on  the 
heels  of  another.  Williamson,  pleading  the  essen- 
tial difference  of  interests  between  the  northern  and 
southern  states,  particularly  I'elatiiig  to  the  cariying 
trade,  "  wished  the  executive  power  to  be  lodged  in 
three  men,  taken  from  three  districts,  into  which  the 
states  should  be  divided."  *  "  At  some  time  or  other," 
said  he,  "  we  shall  have  a  king ;  to  postpone  the  event 

•  Gil))in,  1180;  Elliot,  .Sr)8.  «  Gilpin,  linO;  Elliot,  3.")0. 

"  Gilpin,  liyO;  Elliot,  357.  "  Gilpin,  llb'J;  Elliot,  358, 


THE   PRESIDENT.  l7l 

as  long  as  possible,  I  would  render  tlie   executive  chap. 
ineligible."  *  — . — 

In  tlie  event  of  tlie  ineligibility  of  tlie  executive,  ^J^^*^- 
Martin,  forgetting  tlie  state  of  anarcliy  and  faction  24. 
tliat  would  attend  a  long  period  of  service  by  an  in- 
competent or  unwortliy  incumbent,  proposed  tliat  tlie 
term  of  executive  service  should  be  eleven  years.* 
"  From  ten  to  twelve,"  said  Williamson.'  "  Fifteen," 
said  Gerry ;  and  King  mocked  tliem  all  by  proposing 
"  twenty  years,  the  medium  life  of  princes." '  Wil- 
son, seeing  no  way  of  introducing  a  direct  election 
by  the  people,  made  the  motion,'  that  the  executive 
should  be  chosen  by  electors  to  be  tahen  from  the 
national  legislature  by  lot. 

Ellsworth  pointed  out  that  to  secure  a  candidate  25. 
for  re-election  against  an  improper  dependence  on  the 
legislature,  the  choice  should  be  made  by  electors.' 
Madison  liked  best  an  election  of  the  executive  by  the 
qualified  part  of  the  people  at  large.  "  Local  consid- 
erations," he  said,  "  must  give  way  to  the  general 
interest.  As  an  individual  fi^om  the  southern  states, 
I  am  willino;  to  make  the  sacrifice." ' 

And  now  came  into  consideration  an  element  which 
exercised  a  constant  bias  on  the  discussion  to  the 
last.  Ellsworth  complained  that  the  executive  would 
invariably  be  taken  from  one  of  the  larger  states. 
"  To  cure  the  disadvantaiie  under  which  an  election 
by  the  people  would  place  the  smaller  states,"  Wil- 
liamson proposed  that  each  man  should  vote  for  three 

'Gilpin,     1189,     1190;    Elliot,  «  Gilpin,  1101;  Elliot,  360. 

359.  ^Gilpin,  1196;  Elliot,  363. 

^  Gilpin,  1191;  Elliot,  300.  «  Gilpin,  1198;  Elliot,  363. 

'  Gilpin,  1190;  Elliot,  359.  '  Gilpin,  1201;  Elliot,  365. 


172  THE  FEDEEAL  CONVENTION. 

candidates.*     Gouverneiir  Moms  accepted  tlie  princi- 
ple, but  desired  to  limit  the  choice  of  the  voters  to 
^  ^  ?  '^-  two,  of  whom  at  least  one  should  not  be  of  his  own 

July  '  ^  ^ 

25.  state.  This  Madison  approved,  believing  that  the 
citizens  would  give  their  second  vote  with  sincerity 
to  the  next  object  of  theii*  choice.''  We  shall  meet 
the  proposition  again. 

Lastly,  Dickinson  said :  "  Insuperable  objections 
lie  against  an  election  of  the  executive  by  the  national 
legislature,  or  by  the  legislatures  or  executives  of  the 
states.  I  have  long  leaned  toward  an  election  by  the 
people,  which  I  regard  as  the  best  and  the  purest 
source.  Let  the  people  of  each  state  choose  its  best 
citizen,  and  out  of  the  thirteen  names  thus  selected 
an  executive  magistrate  may  be  chosen,  either  by  the 
national  legislatui-e  or  by  electors." ' 

From  hopelessness  of  an  agreement,  Gerry  and 
Butler  were  willing  to  refer  the  resolution  relating 
to  the  executive  to  a  committee,  but  AVilson  insisted 
that  a  general  principle  must  first  be  fixed  by  a  vote 
of  the  house.* 

2G.  On  the  morning  of  the  next  day,'  Mason  recapitu- 
lated all  the  seven  different  ways  that  had  been  pro- 
posed of  electing  the  chief  magistrate :  by  the  people 
at  large ;  by  the  legislatures  of  the  states ;  by  the 
executives  of  the  states ;  by  electors  chosen  by  the 
people ;  by  electors  chosen  by  lot ;  by  the  legislature 
on  the  nomination  of  three  or  two  candidates  by  each 
several  state ;  by  tlie  legislature  on  the  nomination  of 
one  candidate  from  each  state.     After  reviewing  them 

'  r;ilpin,  1204;  Elliot,  300.  *  Gilpin,  1207;  Elliot,  308. 

MJiipin,  l-iO.T;  Elliot,  :}«7.  •  Ibid. 

'  Ciiipin,  1200;  Elliot,  yU7. 


THE   PEESIDENT.  173 

all,  he  concluded  tliat  au  election  by  the  national  leg-  chap. 
islature,  as  originally  proposed,  was  the  best.     At  the  — 'r^ 
same  time  he  held  it  to  be  the  very  palladium  of  civil  ^  J^^^  '^• 
liberty,  that  the  great  officers  of  state,  and  particular-     26, 
ly  the  executive,  should  at  fixed  periods  return  to 
that  mass  from  which  they  were  taken.     Led  for  the 
moment  by  this  train  of  thought,  the  convention  by 
six  states,  against  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and  Mary- 
land, with  Vii'ginia  equally  divided,  resolved,  that  a 
national  executive  be  instituted ;  to  consist  of  a  single 
person ;  who  should  be  chosen  by  the  national  legis- 
lature ;  for  the  term  of  seven  years ;  and  be  ineligible 
a  second  time.^ 

Foremost  in  undiminished  disapproval  of  the  choice 
of  the  executive  by  the  legislature  were  Washington, 
Madison,  Wilson,  Gouverneur  Morris,  and  Gerry; 
foremost  for  the  election  by  that  body  were  Rutledge, 
Mason,  and,  in  a  moderate  degree.  Strong.  During 
the  debate  Gouverneur  Morris  had  declared :  "  Of  all 
possible  modes  of  appointing  the  executive,  an  elec- 
tion by  the  people  is  the  best ;  an  election  by  the 
legislature  is  the  worst."  I  prefer  a  short  period  and 
re-eligibility,  but  a  different  mode  of  election." '  In 
this  he  spoke  the  mind  of  Pennsylvania ;  and  he  re- 
fused to  accept  the  decision  of  that  day  as  final. 

On  the  twenty-fourth  of  August  the  report  of  the    Aug. 
committee  of  detail  relating  to  the  executive  came 
before  the  convention.     All  as-reed  that  the  executive 
power   should   be  vested  in  a  single  person,  to  be 
styled :  the  President  of  the  United  States  of  Ameri- 

»  Gilpin,  1211;  Elliot,  370.  "  Gilpin,  1195;  ElUot,  363.      . 

«  Gilpin,  1193, 1204;  ElUot,  361, 
366. 


174  THE  FEDEEAL  CONVENTION. 

ca ;  aud  none  qnestioned  that  Ms  title  mlglit  be :  His 
Excellency.'  According  to  the  rej)ort,  he  was  to  be 
elected  by  ballot  by  the  legislature  for  a  term  of 
seven  years,  but  might  not  be  elected  a  second  time.'' 

The  strife  on  the  manner  of  his  election  revived. 
Daniel  Carroll,  of  Maryland,  seconded  by  Wilson,  re- 
newed the  motion,  that  he  should  be  elected  by  the 
people ;  but  the  house  was  weary  or  unprepared  to 
reopen  the  subject,  and  at  the  moment  the  motion  re- 
ceived only  the  votes  of  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware.* 
Rutledge  then  moved  that  the  election  of  the  presi- 
dent be  made  by  the  legislature  in  "  joint  ballot." 

The  conducting  of  business,  especially  of  elections, 
by  the  two  branches  of  the  legislature  in  joint  session 
was  fi'om  early  days  familiar  to  the  states,  and  was  at 
that  time  established  in  every  one  of  them  which  had 
2:)repared  a  constitution  of  its  own  with  two  branches 
of  the  legislature,  so  that  the  regulations  for  that 
mode  of  choice  were  perfectly  well  understood.  New 
Hampshu'e  had  had  the  experience  of  both  methods ; 
many  of  its  officers  were  chosen  annually  by  joint 
ballot,  while  its  representatives  to  congress  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  concurrent  vote  of  the  two  houses. 
Unhappily,  throughout  this  part  of  the  work,  the 
equal  vote  of  the  smaller  states  with  the  larger  ones 
in  the  senate  persistently  biassed  the  movements  of 
the  convention. 

In  the  special  interest  of  the  smaller  states  Sher- 
man objected  to  a  vote  of  the  two  houses  in  joint 
ballot,  because  it  would  deprive  the  senate  of  a  nega- 

.     '  (Jilpin,  1417;  Elliot,  472.  "  Gilpin,  1418;' Elliot,  47&. 

''  Gilpin,  12^0;  Elliot,  473. 


THE   PEESIDEXT.  l75 

tive  on  tlie  more  numerous  brancli.  "It  is  ^\Tong,"  cnAP. 
said  Gorliam,  "to  be  considering  at  every  turn  whom 
tlie  senate  will  represent ;  the  public  good  is  the  ob- 
ject to  be  kept  in  view ;  delay  and  confusion  will  en- 
sue, if  the  two  houses  vote  separately,  each  having  a 
negative  on  the  choice  of  the  other."  Dayton  and 
Brearley,  following  in  the  wake  of  Sherman,  opposed 
a  joint  ballot,  as  impairing  the  power  of  the  smaller 
states ; '  but  Langdon,  of  New  Hampshire,  enlightened 
by  experience  at  home,  dwelt  on  the  great  difficulties 
of  which  the  mode  of  separate  votes  by  the  two 
houses  was  productive ;  and,  like  a  good  patriot  as  he 
was,  he  approved  the  joint  ballot,  "  though  unfavor- 
able to  New  Hampshire  as  a  small  state."  Wilson 
remarked  "  that  the  senate  might  have  an  interest  in 
throwing  dilatory  obstacles  in  the  way,  if  its  separate 
concurrence  should  be  required."  On  the  same  side 
spoke  Madison ;  and  the  motion  of  Rutledge  prevailed 
by  seven  states,  against  Connecticut,  New  Jersey, 
Maryland,  and  Georgia.'' 

These  four  states,  joined  by  Delaware,  then  de- 
manded that,  on  the  joint  ballot,  the  vote  should  be 
taken  by  states ;  the  decision  turned  on  New  Hamp- 
shire ;  and  foUomng  the  patriotic  opinion  of  Lang- 
don, it  joined  the  five  larger  states  and  negatived  the 
proposal.  For  an  election  of  president,  a  majority  of 
the  votes  of  the  members  present  was  required,  New 
Jersey  alone  dissenting.^  "In  case  the  votes  of  the 
two  highest  should  be  equal,"  Read,  of  Delaware, 
taking  a  clause  fi'om  the  constitution  of  his  own  state, 

'  Gilpin,  1419;  Elliot,  472.  ^  Gilpin,  1420;  ElUot,  473.      . 

'Gilpin,  1419;  Elliot,  473. 


176  THE    FEDERAL    COTTV^ENTIOIT. 

CHAP,  moved  that  tlie  president  of  tlie  senate  should  have 
x--v^  an  additional  vote;  but  it  was  disagreed  to  by  a 
^l^J-  general  negative. 
2^.  At  this  moment  Gouverneur  Morris  intei'jjosed 
Tv-ith  decisive  effect.  He  set  forth  the  danger  of  legis- 
lative tyranny  that  would  follow  from  leaving  the 
executive  dependent  on  the  legislature  for  his  elec- 
tion ;  he  dwelt  once  more  on  the  "  cabal  and  corrup- 
tion " '  which  would  attach  to  that  method  of  choice. 
The  plan  of  choosing  the  j)resident  by  electors,  which 
he  now  revived,  had  made  such  progress  that  five 
states  voted  with  him,  among  them  Pennsylvania  and 
Virginia.  A  reference  of  the  subject  to  a  committee 
was  lost  for  the  moment  by  a  tie  vote,  Connecticut 
being  divided."  But  opinion  ripened  so  fast  that,  on 
31.  the  thirty-first  of  August,  the  mode  of  choosing  the 
president,  his  powers,  and  the  question  of  his  re- 
eligibility,  was  wdth  other  unfinished  business  referred 
to  a  grand  committee  of  one  from  each  state.  The 
Eleven,  appointed  by  ballot,  were  Gilman,  King, 
Sherman,  Brearley,  Gouverneur  Morris,  Diehinson, 
Carroll,  Madison,  AYilliamson,  Butler,  and  Bald\\^n.' 
Gouverneur  Morris  had  loudly  put  forward  his 
wish  to  make  of  the  senate  a  thoroughly  aristocratic 
body,  and  of  the  president  a  tenant  for  life.  It 
agi'eed  with  this  view  to  repose  the  eventual  election 
of  the  president  in  the  senate.  The  electoral  colleges, 
in  the  want  of  all  means  of  rapid  intercommunica- 
tion, would  have  rarely  cast  a  majority  for  one  man  ; 
and  tlie  requisition  on  the  electors  to  vote  each  for 

»  nilpin,  1120;  Elliot,  473.  "  Gilpin,  1478;  Elliot,  503. 

"Gilpin,  1421;  Elliot,  474. 


THE   PEESIDEI^T.  177 

two  men  increased  tlie  chances  tliat  there  would  be  chap. 

IX 

no  election,  and  that  one  of  the  candidates  at  least  ^^^^ 
would  be  a  citizen  of  a  smaller  state.     He  was  aware  i  ,^  ^  v. 

Aug. 

that  the  outgoing  president  would  be  apt  to  be  a  can-     31. 
didate  for  re-election  ;  and  desired  nothing  better  than 
such  a  junction  between  the  president  and  senate  as 
would  secure  a  re-election  during  life. 

Sherman  hated  aristocracy;  but  he  was  specially- 
watchful  of  the  equal  power  of  the  smaller  states,  and 
saw  that,  on  the  first  ballot  of  the  election,  the  large 
states,  having  many  votes,  would  always  bring  for- 
ward their  candidates  with  superior  strength.  To  gain 
a  chance  for  electing  a  president  from  the  small  states, 
they  insisted  that  in  case  there  should  be  no  election 
by  the  colleges,  not  less  than  five  names  should  be 
reported  as  candidates  for  the  eventual  election,  and 
among  five  names  there  was  a  great  probability  that 
there  would  be  one  from  the  smaller  states.  They 
therefore  insisted  that  the  eventual  election  should 
be  made  by  the  senate ;  and  this  was  carried  by  a 
coalition  of  aristocratic  tendencies  in  Gouvemeur 
Morris  and  others  from  the  large  states  with  the  pas- 
sion of  the  small  states  for  disproportionate  chances 
for  power. 

The  committee,  having  considered  the  subject  in  Sept. 
all  its  bearings,  made  their  report  on  tlie  fourth  day 
of  September.*  The  term  of  the  presidency  was  lim- 
ited to  four  years ;  and  the  election  was  confided  to 
electors  to  be  appointed  in  each  state  as  its  legisla- 
ture might  direct ;  and  to  be  equal  to  the  whole  num- 
ber of  its  senators  and  representatives  in  congress ; 

'Gilpin,  1485-1488;  Elliot,  507. 
VOL.  n.  12 


4. 


178  THE   FEDEEAL    COISTVEISTIOK 

CHAP.  SO  tliat  tlie  electoral  colleges  collectively  were  to  be 
tlie  exact  counterpart  of  the  joint  convention  of  tlie 
legislature. 

The  electors  of  eacli  state  were  to  meet'  in  their 
respective  states,  and  vote  by  ballot  for  two  per- 
sons, of  whom  one,  at  least,  should  not  be  an  inhabi- 
tant of  the  same  state  with  themselves.  A  certified 
list  of  these  votes,  under  the  seal  of  the  electoral  col- 
lege, was  to  be  transmitted  to  the  president  of  the 
senate.*  "  The  president  of  the  senate,"  discharging 
a  purely  ministerial  ofiice,  "  shall  in  that  house  open 
all  the  certificates,  and  the  votes  shall  be  then  and 
there  counted.  The  person  having  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  votes  shall  be  the  president,  if  such  number  be 
a  majority  of  that  of  the  electors;  and  if  there  be 
more  than  one  who  has  such  a  majority  and  an  equal 
number  of  votes — a  case  that  would  most  rarely,  per- 
haps never,  occur — then  the  senate  shall '  choose  by 
ballot  one  of  them  for  president ;  but  if  no  person 
has  a  majority,  then,  from  the  five  highest  on  the  list, 
'  the  senate,' "  in  which  body  the  smallest  state  had  an 
equal  vote  with  the  largest,  "  shall  clioose  by  ballot 
the  president."  "  x\fter  the  choice  of  the  president, 
the  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes," 
whether  a  majority  of  them  or  not,  "  shall  be  vice- 
president" — an  ofiicer  now  for  the  first  time  intro- 
duced ;  "  but  if  there  should  remain  two  or  more  who 
have  equal  votes,  then  the  senate  shall  choose  from 
them  the  vice-president."  * 

*  Gilpin,  1480;  Elliot,  507.  Soc  Gilpin;  1509;  Elliot,  5tS,  and 

"  Ihid.  i.  28;}.  280. 

'  "Immndiately,"notin  oriji^inal         *  Gilpin,    1480,    1487;    Elliot, 

report.     It   was   inserted  0    iSept.  507. 


THE   PEESrDENT.  179 

Mason,  who  tlionc^lit  the  insulated  electoral  col-  cfap. 

.  .  IX 

leores  would  almost  never  unite  their  votes  on  one  v^.-^ 
man,  spoke  earnestly:  "The  plan  is  liable  to  this  y^"^- 
strong  objection,  that  nineteen  times  in  twenty  the  4. 
president  will  be  chosen  by  the  senate,  an  improper 
body  for  the  purpose."  To  the  objection  of  Charles 
Pinckney,  that  electors  would  be  strangers  to  the 
several  candidates,  and  unable  to  decide  on  their 
comparative  merits,  Baldwin  answered :  "  The  in- 
creasing intercourse  among  the  people  of  the  states 
will  render  important  characters  less  and  less  un- 
known." *  "  This  subject,"  said  Wilson,  "  has  great- 
ly divided  the  house,  and  will  divide  the  people. 
It  is,  in  truth,  the  most  difficult  of  all  on  which 
we  have  had  to  decide.  I  have  never  made  up 
an  opinion  on  it  entirely  to  my  own  satisfaction." 
The  choice  by  electors  "  is,  on  the  whole,  a  valu- 
able iinprovement  on  the  former  plan.  It  gets  rid 
of  cabal  and  corruption ;  and  continental  characters 
will  multiply  as  we  more  and  more  coalesce,  so  as 
to  enable  the  electors  in  every  part  of  the  union 
to  know  and  judge  of  them.  It  clears  the  way  for 
a  discussion  of  the  question  of  the  re-eligibility  of 
the  president  on  its  own  merits,  which  the  former 
mode  of  election  seemed  to  forbid.  It  may,  how- 
ever, be  better  to  refer  the  eventual  appointment 
to  the  legislature  than  to  the  senate,  and  to  con- 
fine it  to  a  smaller  number  than  five  of  the  can- 
didates." ' 

"I  wish  to  know,"  asked   Randolph,  chiming  in 
with  "Wilson,  "  why  the  eventual  election  is  referred 

»  GUpin,  1491;  Elliot,  509.  '^  Gilpin,  1491,  1492;  Elliot,  509. 


180  THE  FEDEEAL  CONVENTION. 

CHAP,  to  tlie  senate,  and  not  to  the  leo-islature  ?     I  see  no 

IX  .  •  .      • 

v.^-,-^.  necessity  for  tliis,  and  many  objections  to  it."  * 

11 8 1.       Qu  the  fifth,  Mason,  supported  by  Gerry,  attempt- 

5.  ed  to  reduce  the  number  of  candidates  to  be  voted 
for  from  five  to  three ; '  but  the  small  states,  who  saw 
their  best  chance  of  furnishing  a  president  in  the 
larger  number,  were  humored  by  the  convention,  and 
to  the  last  the  number  of  five  was  not  changed. 

One  great  objection  of  Mason  would  be  removed 
by  depriving  the  senate  of  the  eventual  election.' 
Wilson  proposed  the  capital  amendment,  to  transfer 
the  eventual  election  from  the  senate  to  the  "  legis- 
lature.'" This  change  Dickinson  aj^proved.  But 
the  convention  was  not  yet  ripe  for  the  motion,  all 
the  smaller  states,  except  New  Hampshire,  voting 
against  it. 

"  The  mode  of  appointment  as  now  regulated,"  said 
Mason  at  the  close  of  the  day,  "  is  utterly  inadmis- 
sible. I  should  prefer  the  government  of  Prussia  to 
one  which  will  put  all  power  into  the  hands  of  seven 
or  eight  men  " — a  majority  of  a  quorum  of  the  senate 
— "  and  fi_x  an  aristocracy  worse  than  absolute  mon- 
archy." ' 

6.  On  the  sixth,  Geny,  supported  by  King  and  Wil- 
liamson, proposed  that  the  eventual  election  should 
be  made  by  the  legislature.  Sherman,  sedulously 
supporting  the  chances  of  the  small  states,  remarked, 
that  if  the  legislatui-e,  instead  of  the  senate,  were  to 
have  the  eventual  a2)pointment  of  the  president,  it 
ought  to  vote  by  states.* 

»  Gilpin,  1402;  Elliot,  510.  ■•  Gilpin,  ir,00;  Elliot,  513. 

MJilpin,  1502;  Elliot,  514.  *  (Jilpin,  150:5;  Elliot,  515. 

»  GJIpiu,  1498,  M'J'J;  Elliot,  513.  •  Gilpin,  1504;  Elliot,  516. 


THE    PRESIDENT.  181 

"Wilson  himself,  on  the  same  morning,  spoke  with  ciiap. 
singular  energy,  disapproving  alike  the  eventual  -^^^ 
choice  of  the  president  by  the  equal  vote  of  the  ^^^,'^' 
states  and  the  tendency  to  clothe  the  senate  with  6. 
special  powers :  "  I  have  weighed  carefully  the  report 
of  the  committee  for  remodelling  the  constitution  of 
the  executive ;  and,  on  combining  it  with  other  parts 
of  the  plan,  I  am  obliged  to  consider  the  whole  as 
having  a  dangerous  tendency  to  aristocracy,  as  throw- 
ing a  dangerous  power  into  the  hands  of  the  senate. 
They  will  have,  in  fact,  the  appointment  of  the  presi- 
dent, and,  through  his  dependence  on  them,  the  vir- 
tual appointment  to  offices — among  others,  the  officers 
of  the  judiciary  department ;  they  are  to  make  trea- 
ties ;  and  they  are  to  try  all  impeachments.  The 
legislative,  executive,  and  judiciary  powers  are  all 
blended  in  one  branch  of  the  government.  The 
power  of  making  treaties  involves  the  case  of  sub- 
sidies ;  and  here,  as  an  additional  evil,  foreign  influ- 
ence is  to  be  dreaded.  According  to  the  plan  as  it 
now  stands,  the  president  will  not  be  the  man  of  the 
people,  as  he  ought  to  be,  but  the  minion  of  the  sen- 
ate. He  cannot  even  appoint  a  tide-waiter  without 
it.  I  have  always  thought  the  senate  too  numerous 
a  body  for  making  appointments  to  office.  With  all 
their  powers,  and  the  president  in  their  interest,  they 
will  depress  the  other  branch  of  the  legislature,  and 
aggrandize  themselves  in  proportion.  The  new  mode 
of  appointing  the  president  by  electors  is  a  valuable 
improvement ;  but  I  can  never  agree  to  purchase  it  at 
the  price  of  the  ensuing  parts  of  the  report." ' 

'Gilpin,  1504,  1505;  Elliot,  516. 


182  THE   FEDERAL    COISTENTIOIS'. 

CHAP.       "  Tlie  mutual  connection  of  tlie  president  and  sen- 
-^^ — '-  ate,"  said  Hamilton,  "  will  perpetuate  the  one  and  ag- 
^SeV"  g^'^^t^i^^  botli.     I  see  no  better  remedy  tlian  to  let 
6.      the  higliest  number  of  ballots,  wlietlier  a  majority  or 
not,  appoint  tlie  president."  *     The  same  motion  had 
the  day  before  been  offered  by  Mason,"  but  the  con- 
vention, especially  the  smaller  states,  inflexibly  re- 
quired a  majority. 

Williamson,  to  avoid  favoring  aristocracy  in  the  sen- 
ate, and  yet  to  secure  the  assent  of  the  small  states, 
wished  to  transfer  the  eventual  choice  to  the  legisla- 
ture, voting  by  states.  To  the  legislature,  Sherman 
preferred  the  house  of  representatives,  the  members 
from  each  state  having  one  vote  ;  ^  and  the  convention 
so  decided  by  ten  states  out  of  eleven. 

Nor  would  the  convention  entnist  the  counting  of 
the  votes  to  the  senate  alone.  By  amendments  adopt- 
ed on  the  sixth,'  it  was  thus  finally  established :  "  The 
president  of  the  senate  shall,  in  the  presence  of  the 
senate  and  house  of  representatives,  open  all  the  cer- 
tificates, and  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted."  In 
eveiy  stage  of  the  proceeding  the  convention  suffered 
no  chance  for  the  failure  of  an  election,  and  had 
specially  guarded  against  the  failure  of  an  election 
by  the  negative  of  one  house  upon  the  other,  leaving 
the  rules  for  the  conduct  of  the  electoral  colleges,  or 
of  the  two  houses  when  in  presence  of  each  other,  to 
be  supplied  by  the  familiar  experience  of  the  states. 
On  one  point,  and  on  one  point  only,  the  several  states 
of  that  day  differed  in  their  manner  of  counting  votes. 

'  flilpin,  ir)07;  Elliot,  517.  '  Gilpin,  1510;  Elliot,  519. 

»  Gilpin,  14'J8,  1499  ;  Elliot,  *  Gilpin,  1509,  1513  ;  Elliot, 
513.  518,  520. 


THE   PEESIDENT. 


183 


In  Virginia  tlie  ballot  of  botli  houses  was  taken  in 
eacli  liouse  respectively,  and  tlie  boxes  examined  joint- 
ly by  a  committee  of  eacli  house.  In  Massachusetts 
the  whole  work  was  done  by  the  senators  and  repre- 
sentatives assembled  in  one  room.  On  this  point, 
therefore,  and  on  this  point  only,  there  was  need  of  a 
special  regulation  ;  and,  accordingly,  the  constitution 
enjoined  the  counting  of  the  votes  in  the  presence  of 
the  senate  and  house  of  representatives  after  the 
manner  of  Massachusetts.* 

The  language  of  the  constitution  is  a  concise,  clear, 
and  imperative  command :  "  The  votes  shall  then  be 
counted."  The  convention  is  left  with  no  one  but 
itself  to  interpret  its  duties  and  prescribe  its  rules  of 


'  Constitution  of  Virginia,  of 
1776.  B.  P.  Poore's  edition,  1910, 
1911.  A  governor,  or  cliief  ma- 
gistrate, shall  be  chosen  annual- 
ly by  joint  ballot  of  both  houses 
(to  be  taken  in  each  house  re- 
spectively) deposited  in  the  con- 
ference room  ;  the  boxes  exam- 
ined jointly  by  a  committee  of 
each  house,  and  the  numbers  sev- 
erally reported  to  them  that  the  ap- 
pointments may  be  entered  (which 
shall  be  the  mode  of  taking  the 
joint  ballot  of  both  houses,  in  all 
cases).   .  . 

A  privy  council,  or  council  of 
state,  consisting  of  eight  members, 
shall  be  chosen  by  joint  ballot  of 
both  houses  of  assembly. 

The  delegates  for  Virginia  to 
the  continental  congress  shall  be 
chosen  annually,  or  superseded  in 
the  mean  time,  by  joint  ballot  of 
both  houses  of  assembly. 

The  two  houses  of  assembly  shall, 
by  joint  ballot,  appoint  judges  of 
the  supreme  court  of  appeals,  and 
general  court,  judges  in  chancery, 
judges  of  admii-alty,  secretary,  and 


the  attorney-general,  to  be  commis- 
sioned by  the  governor,  and  con- 
tinue in  office  during  good  be- 
havior. 

Constitution  of  Massachusetts, 
of  1780.  B.  P.  Poore's  edition, 
9G7,  969.  Ch.  II,  Art.  II.  Nine 
councillors  shall  be  annually  chosen 
from  among  the  persons  returned 
for  councillors  and  senators,  on  the 
last  Wednesday  in  May,  by  the 
joint  ballot  of  the  senators  and 
representatives  assembled  in  one 
room. 

Ch.  II,  Art.  I.  The  secretary, 
treasurer,  and  receiver-general,  and 
the  commissary-general,  notaries 
public,  and  naval  officers,  shall  be 
chosen  annually,  by  joint  ballot 
of  the  senators  and  representatives, 
in  one  room. 

Ch.  IV.  The  delegates  of  this 
commonwealth  to  the  congress  of 
the  United  States  shall,  some  time 
in  the  month  of  June,  annually, 
be  elected  by  the  joint  ballot  of 
the  senate  and  house  of  representa- 
tives assembled  together  in  one 
room. 


CnAP. 
IX. 

17  87. 

Sept. 

6. 


184  THE  FEDEEAL  CONVENTION. 

action.  No  power  whatever  over  the  counting  of  tlie 
votes  is  devolved  on  the  house  of  representatives  or  on 
the  senate ;  whatever  is  granted  is  granted  to  the  two 
houses  "  in  the  presence  of  "  each  other ;  representing 
the  states  and  the  people  according  to  the  compro- 
mise adopted  for  the  electoral  colleges. 

And  now  the  whole  line  of  march  to  the  arrival  at 
the  election  of  a  president  can  be  surveyed.  The 
convention  at  first  reluctantly  conferred  that  office  on 
the  national  legislature ;  and  to  prevent  the  possi- 
bility of  failm'e  by  a  negative  of  one  house  on  the 
other,  to  the  legislature  voting  in  joint  ballot.  To 
escape  from  danger  of  cabal  and  corruption,  it  next 
transferred  full  and  final  power  of  choice  to  an  elec- 
toral college  that  should  be  the  exact  counterpart  of 
the  joint  convention  of  the  two  houses  in  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  states  as  units,  as  well  as  the  popula- 
tion of  the  states,  and  should  meet  at  the  seat  of  gov- 
ernment. Then,  feariuo^  that  so  laro-e  a  number  of 
men  would  not  travel  to  the  seat  of  government  for 
that  single  j)urpose,  or  might  be  hindered  on  the  way, 
they  most  reluctantly  went  back  to  the  choice  of  the 
president  by  the  two  houses  in  joint  convention.  At 
this  moment  the  thoug-ht  arose  that  the  electors  mi^-ht 
cast  their  votes  in  their  own  several  states,  and  transmit 
the  certificates  of  their  ballots  to  the  seat  of  govera- 
ment.  Accordingly,  the  work  of  electing  a  president 
was  divided ;  the  convention  removed  the  act  of  voting 
from  the  joint  session  of  the  two  houses  to  electoral 
colleges  in  the  several  states,  the  act  of  voting  to  be 
followed  by  the  transmission  of  autlienticated  certifi- 
cates of  the  votes  to  a  branch  of  the  general  legis- 


THE   PEESIDENT.  185 

lature  at  tlie  seat  of  p-overnment ;  and  tlien  it  re-  ch.vp. 

.  IX. 

stored  to  tlie  two  houses  in  presence  of  eacli  other  — ^ 
the  same  office  of  countiuc:  the  collected  certificates  ^ J  ^J- 

o  «  Sept, 

which  they  would  have  performed  had  the  \vhole  duty  6. 
of  choosing  the  president  remained  w  ith  them.  Should 
no  one  have  a  majority,  the  eventual  election  of  the 
president,  to  satisfy  the  rising  Jealousy  of  the  preroga- 
tives of  the  senate,  was  assigned  to  the  house  of  rep- 
resentatives, and,  to  please  the  small  states,  to  the 
representatives  voting  by  states.  And  the  house  of 
representatives  was  in  the  clearest  language  ordered 
"  immediately  "  to  choose  by  ballot  one  of  two,  when 
their  vote  was  equal,  one  of  five  where  no  person  had 
a  majority.  In  this  way  a  collision  between  the  two 
houses,  by  a  negative  vote  of  one  on  the  other,  was 
completely  guarded  against  in  every  stage  of  the  pro- 
cedure.* 

^  When,  thirteen  years  later,  this  ness  of  Miss  Sarah  Nicholas  Ran- 

clause  came  up  for  consideration,  dolph,    granddaujrhter  of    Gover- 

Madison  and  Baldwin,  two^surviv-  nor  Wilson  Gary  Nicholas,  of  Vir- 

ing  members  of  the  grand  commit-  ginia,  and  great-granddaughter  of 

tee  to  whom  the  federal  convention  Thomas  Jefferson,  I  have  been  al- 

had   referred   everything  relating  low^ed  to  take  from  the  holograph 

to  the  choice  of  the  president,  left  of  Jefferson  a  copy  of  his  paper  on 

on  record  their  interpretation   of  this  subject,   written   by  him  for 

the  clause.      For  the   opinion   of  the  use  of  W.   C.  Nicholas  when 

Madison,  see  Madison  to  Jefferson,  senator  from  Virginia  in  congress 

4  April,  1800,  in  writings  of  Madi-  in  1800. 

son,  ii.  158,  where  the  name  "Ni-  The  question  as  voted  upon  in 

cholson's "  is   erroneously  printed  congress  in  1800  was  decided  not 

for  "Nicholas's,"  as  appears  from  by  any  bearing  on  the  selection  of 

a  comparison  which  has  been  made  Jefferson   or   Burr  for  the   presi- 

of  the  printed  letter  with  the  ori-  dency,   for  the  party   opposed   to 

ginal.      The  opinion  of   Baldwin  Jefferson  had  a  majority  in  each 

is  found  in  "Counting  Electoral  branch,  but  on  the  unwillingness 

Votes,"  page  19.     Baldwin  gives  of  the  senate  to  give  to  the  house 

his  vote  with  Langdon  and  Pinck-  of  representatives  superior  weight 

ney,  both  of  whom  had  been  mem-  in  the  decision  of  elections.    Jeffer- 

bers  of  the  federal  convention,  for  son,   iv.   322.     Tlie   vice-president 

the  right  of  the  joint  convention  was  never  charged  with  the  power 

to  count  the  votes.     By  the  kind-  to  count  the  votes.      The  person 


186  THE  FEDEEAL  COIT^ENTION^. 

CHAP.       Tlie  almost  certain  election  of  tlie  vice-president 
s.^-^  was  secured  by  declaring  tlie  candidate  having  the 
17  8 1.  most  votes  to  be  duly  elected.     In  tlie  extremely  im- 
6.      probable  case,  that  two  persons  should  lead  all  the 
candidates  with  an  exactly  equal  number  of  votes, 
the  election  was  to  devolve  on  the  senate. 
'7-  "  Such  an  officer  as  vice-president,"  said  William- 

son, "  is  not  wanted."  *  To  make  an  excuse  for  his 
existence,  the  convention  decreed  that  he  should  be 
president  of  the  senate.  "  That,"  said  Mason,  "  is  an 
encroachment  on  the  senate's  rights ;  and,  moreover, 
it  mixes  too  much  the  leo:islative  and  the  executive." 
It  was  seen  that  the  vice-president  brings  to  the  chair 
of  the  senate  the  dignity  of  one  of  the  two  highest 
officers  in  the  land  chosen  by  the  whole  country ;  and 
yet  that  he  can  have  no  real  iufl  aence  in  a  body  upon 
which  he  is  imposed  by  an  extraneous  vote. 

That  the  vice-president  should,  in  the  event  of  a  va- 
cancy, act  as  president,  prevents  the  need  of  a  new 
election  before  the  end  of  the  regular  teiin ;  but  an 
immediate  appeal  to  the  people  might  give  a  later 
and  tnier  expression  of  its  Avishes. 

AVhile  the  method  to  be  adopted  for  the  election  of 

•who   counted  tho   first   votes   for  Edmunds,    20   Nov.,    1877.      The 

president  iind  vice-president  was  laws  of  historical  criticism  require 

no   vice-president,    but   a   senator  the  historian  to  study  tlie  words 

elected  by  the  senate  as  its  officer  of    the    state    constitutions   from 

for  tliat  act  under  ii  special  autlior-  which   the    article  in   the   United 

ity  conferred  Ijy  the  constitution  States  constitution  is  taken,   and 

for  that  one  occasion  when  tlie  con-  the  practice  of  the  state   legisla- 

Btitution  was  to  be  set  in  motion.  tures  of  that  day  under  the  orii^inal 

On  any  pretence  of  a  riijht  in  articles  in  the  state  constitutions  ; 

the   vice-president    to    count    the  and  these  nuist  decide  on  llie  rifi;ht 

votes,   compare  tlie  words  spoken  interpretation  of  the  language  em- 

in  the  senate  by  Senator  ('onkiiiig,  ployed. 

23uud  24  Jan.,  1877,  and  Senator  ^"Uiipin,  1517;  Elliot,  523. 


THE   PEESIDENT.  187 

the  president  still  engaged  tlie  untiring  efforts  of  tlie  chap. 
convention,  it  proceeded  in  the  ascertainment  of  liis  ^^^^ 
powers.     His  style  was  declared  to  be  "  the  President  ig^^^^*^- 
of  the  United  States  of  America ; "  the  clause  that  his      7. 
title  should  be  "  His  Excellency "  was  still  suffered 
to  lino-er  in  the  draft.     He  was  to  be  the  minister  to 
carry  out  the  will  of  the  legislature,  and  see  that  the 
laws  are  executed.     It  was  made  his  duty  to  give  in- 
formation of  the  state  of  the  union ;  and  to  recom- 
mend necessary  and  expedient  measures.     He  could 
not  prorogue  the  two  branches  of  the  legislature  nor 
either  of  them  ;  nor  appeal  to  the  people  by  dissolving 
them.    They  alone  had  the  power  to  adjourn  ;  but  on 
extraordinary  occasions  to  him  belonged  the  preroga- 
tive to  convene  them,  or  to  convene  the  senate  alone. 

Wilson  was  most  apprehensive  that  the  legislature,  Aug. 
by  swallowing  up  all  the  other  powers,  would  lead 
to  a  dissolution  of  the  government ;  no  adequate  self- 
defensive  power  having  been  granted  either  to  the 
executive  or  judicial  department.*  To  strengthen  the 
president  and  raise  a  strong  barrier  against  rash  legis- 
lation, Gouverneur  Morris  would  have  granted  the 
president  a  qualified  veto  on  the  repeal  of  a  law,  an 
absolute  veto  on  every  act  of  legislation.'' 

At  the  instance  of  Williamson  and  Randolph,  the  Sept. 
convention  at  first  required  three  fourths  of  each 
house  to  overrule  his  dissent  to  a  bill,  or  a  joint  reso- 
lution ; '  but  a  two  thirds  vote  was  now  held  sufficient 
after  the  plan  for  choosing  the  president  by  electors 
was  definitely  settled." 

»  Gilpin,  1336,  1337;  Elliot,  430.         '  Gilpin,  1337,  1338;  Elliot,  431. 
»  Gilpin,  1335;  Elliot,  439.  *  Gilpin,  15G4,  15G5;  Elliot,  538. 


188  TIIE    FEDERAL    CONVENTIOlSr. 

Slierman  had  proposed  that  pardons  should  require 
the  consent  of  the  senate ;   but  no  state  except  his 
^Au-^'  ^^^^  ^^^^  mlling  thus  to  restrict  the  clemency  of  the 

25!     president/ 

All  acrreed  that  he  should  be  commander-in-chief 

2'j^  of  the  army  and  the  navy ;  but,  at  Sherman's  instance, 
he  was  to  command  the  militia  only  when  it  should 
be  called  into  the  actual  service  of  the  United  States." 
The  men  who  made  the  constitution  had  taken  to 
heart  the  lesson  that  the  three  great  powers,  legisla- 
tive, judicial,  and  executive,  should  be  lodged  in  dif- 
ferent hands.  "Executing  the  laws  and  appointing 
oiScers,"  Wilson  had  said,  so  early  as  the  first  of  June, 
"  are  strictly  executive  powers." '  Yet  it  seemed  need- 
ful to  keep  watch  over  the  president,  and  Gerry '  and 
Sherman  had  favored  the  appointment  of  an  execu- 
tive council,^  Charles  Pinckney  proposed  that  the 
president  should  consult  the  heads  of  the  principal 
departments.*  "  A  suj)erfl.uous  proposition,"  said 
Hamilton,  "  for  the  president  will  at  any  rate  have 

14.  that  right."  Mercer,  on  the  fourteenth  of  August, 
suggested  "a  council  composed  of  members  of  both 
houses  of  the  leirislature  to  stand  between  the  aris- 
tocracy  and  the  executive." '  But  the  thought  did  not 
take  root. 

The  convention  was  anxious  to  reconcile  a  discreet 
watchfulness  over  the  executive  Avith  his  indepen- 
dence.     In  Auirust  Ellsworth  had  recommended   a 

o 

council   to   be   composed    of    the   president   of   the 

'  nilpin,  Ur,n;  Elliot,  480.  "Gilpin,  783;  Elliot,  150. 

'  (Jilpin,  14:54;  Elliot,  4S0.  "Gilpin,  811;  Elliot,  l(i.5. 

"  (;ilpin,  70;j;  Elliot,  141.  '  Gilpin,  1318;  Elliot,  421. 
♦  Ibid. 


THE   PEESLDENT.  189 

senate,  tlie  cliief  justice,  and  tlie   ministers,  or  sec-  chap. 
retaries   as  Gouvernem^  Morris  named  them,  of  tlie  — r^ 
foreign,  the  interior,  war,  treasury,  and  navy  depart-  ^^uV' 
ments,  "  to  advise,  but  not  conclude  the  president."  '      is. 
Gerry  pronounced  the  nomination  of  the  chief  justice 
particularly   exceptionable.'      Dickinson   urged  that 
the  great  appointments  of  the  heads  of  departments 
should  be  made  by  the  legislatui'e,  in  which  case  they 
might  properly  be  consulted  by  the  executive.     The 
elaborate  plan  of  a  council  of  state  which  Gouver- 
neur  Morris  proposed  on  the  twentieth  differed  fi'om     20. 
that  of  Ellsworth  mainly  in  its  exclusion  of  the  presi- 
dent of  the  senate. 

The  persistent  convention  next  consulted  its  com-  22. 
mittee  of  detail,  which  on  the  twenty-second  re- 
ported :  that  "  the  privy  council  of  the  president  of 
the  United  States  shall  consist  of  the  president  of 
the  senate,  the  speaker  of  the  house  of  representa- 
tives, the  chief  justice  of  the  supreme  court,  and  the 
princij)al  officer  in  each  of  five  departments  as  they 
shall  fi'om  time  to  time  be  established;  their  duty 
shall  be  to  advise  him  in  matters  which  he  shall  lay 
before  them  ;  but  their  advice  shall  not  conclude  him, 
nor  affect  his  responsibility."'  The  report  did  not 
satisfy  the  convention,  which,  still  hopeful  and  per- 
severing, referred  the  subject  to  the  grand  committee 
of  the  eleven  states. 

The  report  of  the  committee,  made  on  the  fourth    ^^pt 
of  September,  did  no  more  than  pennit  the  executive 
to  "require  the  opinion  in  writing  of  the  principal 

'  Gilpin,  1358,  1359;  Elliot,  442.         =  Gilpin,     1398,     1399;    Elliot, 
"  Gilpin,  1359;  Elliot,  442.  462. 


4. 


190  THE  FEDERAL  CONVENTION. 

CHAP,  officer  in  eacli  of  tlie  executive  departments,  upon 
— ^  any  subject  relating  to  liis  office."  *  "  In  rejecting  a 
^ '  ^  '^-  council  to  the  president,"  such  were  the  final  words 
'?•  of  Mason,  "we  are  about  to  try  an  experiment  on 
which  the  most  despotic  government  has  never  ven- 
tured ;  the  Grand  Seignior  himself  has  his  Divan ; " 
and  he  proposed  an  executive  council  to  be  appointed 
by  the  legislature  or  by  the  senate,  and  to  consist  of 
two  members  from  the  Eastern,  two  from  the  Middle, 
and  two  from  the  Southern  states ;  with  a  rotation 
and  duration  of  office  similar  to  those  of  the  senate/ 
He  was  seconded  by  Franklin,  who  "  thought  a  coun- 
cil would  be  a  check  on  a  bad  president,  a  relief  to 
a  good  one." '  Wilson  "  approved  of  a  council,  in 
preference  to  making  the  senate  a  party  to  appoint- 
ments." So  did  Dickinson  and  Madison ;  but  the 
motion  gained  only  three  states ;  *  and  then  by  a 
unanimous  vote  the  president  was  authorized  to  take 
WTitten  opinions  of  the  heads  of  departments,"  who 
thus  became  his  constitutional  advisers. 

The  failure  to  establish  an  efficient  council  led  the 
convention  most  reluctantly  to  vest  the  senate  with 
some  control  over  acts  of  the  executive.  On  the  sev- 
enth it  was  agreed* "  that  the  president  shall  have  the 
power  to  make  treaties  by  and  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  senate." '  "  And  of  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives," AYilson  would  have  added  ;  saying :  "  As 
treaties  are  to  have  tlie  operation  of  laws,  they  ought 
to  have  the  sanction  of  laws."  But  Sherman  repre- 
sented that  the  necessity  of  secrecy,  forbade  a  refer- 

•  Gilpin,  1488;  Elliot,  507.  *  Gilpin,  1524;  Elliot,  526. 

'  Cilpin,  1523;  Elliot,  525.  "  Ibid. 

» Ibid.  •  Gilpin,  1518;  Elliot,  523. 


THE    PRESIDENT.  191 

ence  to  botli  houses,  and  every  state  assented  except  chap. 
Pennsylvania.^  — . — 

It  has  already  been  related  that  to  diminish  the  ^g^^^^"^- 
temptation  to  war,  the  power  to  declare  it  was  con-  7- 
fided  to  the  legislature.  In  treaties  of  peace,  Madi- 
son, fearing  in  a  president  a  passion  for  continuing 
war,  proposed  to  dispense  with  his  concurrence. 
"  The  means  of  carrying  on  the  war,"  said  Gorham, 
"  will  not  be  in  the  hands  of  the  president,  but  of  the 
legislature."  "No  peace,"  insisted  Gouverneur  Mor- 
ris, "oui^ht  to  be  made  without  the  concurrence  of 
the  president,  who  is  the  general  guardian  of  the  na- 
tion." And  Maryland,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia 
alone  voted  for  the  amendment.'' 

On  the  seventh,  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  sen- 
ate was,  by  a  unanimous  vote,  required  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers,  consuls, 
and  judges  of  the  supreme  court ; '  and  for  all  other 
officers  of  the  United  States  by  nine  states  against 
Pennsylvania  and  South  Carolina."  But  eight  days  15. 
later  the  legislature  was  authorized  to  vest  the  ap- 
pointment of  inferior  officers  in  the  president  alone, 
in  the  courts  of  law,  or  in  the  heads  of  departments.' 

All  agreed  in  giving  the  president  power  to  till  up,      1. 
temporarily,  vacancies  that  might  happen  during  the 
recess  of  the  senate.' 

Had  the  consent  of  the  senate  been  made  necessary 
to  displace  as  well  as  to  appoint,  the  executive  would 
have  suffered  degradation;   and  the  relative  impor- 

>  Gilpin,  1518;  Elliot,  523.  "  Gilpin,  1520;  Elliot,  524. 

^  Gilpin,  1521,  1522;  Elliot,  524,  »  Gilpin,     1588,     1589  ;     ElHot, 

525.  550. 

"  Gilpin,  1520;  Elliot,  523,  524.  «  Gilpin,  1520;  Elliot,  524. 


192  THE   FEDEEAL    CO^TVENTIOTT. 

CHAP,  tance  of  tlie  liouse  of  representatives  a  grave  diminu- 
tion. To  change  the  tenure  of  office  from  the  good 
opinion  of  the  president,  who  is  the  employer  and 
needs  efficient  agents  in  executing  the  laws,  to  the 
favor  of  the  senate,  which  has  no  executive  powers, 
would  create  a  new  fealty  alien  to  the  duties  of  an 
officer  of  the  United  States. 

"  The  three  distinct  powers,  legislative,  judicial, 
and  executive,"  said  Ellsworth,  as  senator,  in  1789, 
explaining  the  constitution  which  he  had  done  so 
much  to  frame,  "  should  be  placed  in  diiferent  hands. 
He  sJiall  take  care  that  the  latvs  he  faithfully  executed, 
are  sweeping  words.  The  officers  should  be  attentive 
to  the  president,  to  whom  the  senate  is  not  a  council. 
To  turn  a  man  out  of  office  is  an  exercise  neither  of 
legislative  nor  of  judicial  power;  it  is  like  a  tree 
growing  upon  land  that  has  been  granted.  The  ad- 
vice of  the  senate  does  not  make  the  ap2:)ointment ; 
the  president  appoints :  there  are  certain  restrictions 
in  certain  cases,  but  the  restriction  is  as  to  the  ap- 
pointment and  not  as  to  the  removal." ' 

Ang.  One  question  on  the  qualifications  of  the  president 
was  among  the  last  to  be  decided.  On  the  twenty- 
second  of  August  the  committee  of  detail,  fixing  the 
requisite  age  of  the  president  at  thirty-five,  on  theii* 
OA\'n  motion  and  for  the  first  time  required  only  that 
the  president  should  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
and    should   have  been  an  inhabitant  of  them   for 

Sept.  twenty-one  years."  On  the  fourth  of  September  the 
committee  of  states  who  were  charged  with  all  un- 

'  MS.  rfi)ort  of  Ellswortli's  speech  ="  Gilpin,  1308;  Elliot,  4G3. 

by  William  rater.son. 


THE   PEESIDEl^T.  193 

finished  business  limited  the  years  of  residence  to  ckap. 

IX 

fourteen. *     It  was  tlien  objected  that  no  number  of  .^^ 
years  could  properly  prepare  a  foreigner  for  tliat  ^1^^' 
place ;  but  as  men  of  other  lands  had  spilled  their      4. 
blood  in  the  cause  of  the  United  States,  and  had 
assisted  at  every  stage  of  the  formation  of  their  insti- 
tutions, on  the  seventh  of  September  it  was  unani-      '^^ 
mously  settled  that  foreign-born  residents  of  fourteen  ■ 
years  who  should  be  citizens  at  the  time  of  the  for- 
mation of  the  constitution  are  eligible  to  the  office  of 
president." 

No  majorities  of  the  legislature  could  force  a  presi- 
dent to  retu^e  before  the  end  of  his  term ;  but  he  might 
be  impeached  by  the  house  of  representatives  for  trea- 
son, bribery,  or  other  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors. 
The  tribunal  for  his  arraignment  was  at  first  the  su- 
preme court  of  the  United  States  ;  but  they  would  be 
few  in  number ;  the  president,  after  condemnation, 
would  come  before  them  on  his  acts ;  and  besides,  they 
would  be  of  his  appointment.  Hamilton  had  sug- 
gested a  forum  composed  of  the  chief  justice  of  each 
state.'  Contrary  to  the  opinion  of  Madison,  the  Eng- 
lish precedent  was  followed,  and  the  senate  was  made 
the  court  to  try  all  officers  liable  to  impeachment ;  and, 
on  conviction  by  a  two  thirds  vote,  to  remove  them. 
As  the  vice-president,  on  the  president's  removal, 
would  succeed  to  his  place,  the  chief  justice  was  di- 
rected to  preside  on  the  trial. 

At  so  late  a  day  as  the  fourteenth  of  September,     i4. 
Rutledge  and  Gouvemeur  Morris  moved  that  per- 

>  Gilpin,  1487;  Elliot,  507.  "  Gilpin,  892,  1158;  Elliot,  205, 

'  Gilpin,  1516;  Elliot,  531.  342. 

VOL.  u.  13 


194  THE  FEDERAL  CONVENTION. 

CHAP,  sons  impeaclied  be  suspended  from  tlieir  offices  until 

.-^^  they  be  tried  and  acquitted ;  but  Madison  defeated 

1  ^  ^  '^-  tlie  proposition  by  pointing  out  that  this  intermediate 

14.     suspension  would  put  it  in  the  power  of  one  branch 

only  to  vote  a  temporary  removal  of  the  existing 

magistrate/ 

Judgment  in  cases  of  impeachment  could  extend 
only  to  removal  from  office  and  disqualification ;  but 
the  party  remained  liable  to  indictment,  trial,  and 
punishment,  according  to  law.  The  trial  of  all 
crimes,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment,  could  be 
only  by  jury. 

^Gilpin,  1572;  Elliot,  543. 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE  FEDERAL  JUDICIARY. 

The  resolution  on  tlie  federal  judiciary  which  went  chap. 


X. 


17  87. 
Aug. 


from  the  convention  to  the  committee  of  detail  pur- 
posely described  the  extent  of  its  jurisdiction  in 
vague  and  general  terms.  The  very  able  lawyers  on 
that  committee,  Rutledge,  Wilson,  Randolph,  and 
Ellsworth,  proceeding  mth  equal  boldness  and  pre- 
cision, shrinking  from  aggressions  on  the  rights  of 
the  states  and  yet  entertaining  efficient  and  compre- 
hensive designs,  brought  in  a  report,  which  caused 
little  diversity  of  opinion,  and  was  held  to  need  no 
essential  amendment.  But  on  one  point  they  kept 
silence.  A  deeply-seated  dread  of  danger  from  hasty 
legislation  pervaded  the  mind  of  the  convention ;  and 
Mason,  Madison,  and  others  persistently  desired  to 
vest  in  the  supreme  court  a  revisionary  power  over 
the  acts  of  congress,  with  an  independent  negative, 
or  a  negative  in  conjunction  with  the  executive. 
Though  the  measure  had  been  repeatedly  brought 
forward  and  as  often  put  aside,  Madison,  on  the 
fifteenth  of  August,  proposed  once  more  that  "Every  i5. 
bill  which  shall  have  passed  the  two  houses  shall. 


196  THE   FEDERAL    C0NVENTI01S-. 

CHAP,  before  it  becomes  a  law,  be  severally  presented  to  tlie 

— r^  president  of  the  United  States,  and  to  tlie  judges  of 

^2  ^^-  the  supreme  court,  for  the  revision  of  each ; " '  the 

15.     veto  of  the  judges  not  to  be  overthrown  by  less  than 

two  thirds,  nor,  if  the  president  joined  them,  by  less 

than  three  fourths  of  each  house.     He  was  seconded 

by  Wilson. 

Charles  Pinckney  opposed  the  interference  of  the 
judges  in  legislation,  because  it  would  involve  them 
in  the  conflict  of  parties  and  tinge  their  opinions  be- 
fore their  action  in  court.  "The  judiciary,"  said 
John  Francis  Mercer,  of  Maryland,  "  ought  to  be  sep- 
arate from  the  legislative  and  independent  of  it.  I 
disaj^prove  the  doctrine  that  the  judges  should,  as  ex- 
positors of  the  constitution,  have  authority  to  declare 
a  law  void.  Laws  ought  to  be  well  and  cautiously 
made,  and  then  to  be  uncontrollable." '  To  the  re- 
gret of  Gouverneur  Morris,  the  motion  of  Madison 
caiTied  only  Maryland,  Delaware,  and  Virgiuia.  Dick- 
inson was  strongly  impressed  with  the  objection  to 
the  power  of  the  judges  to  set  aside  the  law.  He 
thought  no  such  power  ought  to  exist,  but  was  at  a 
loss  for  a  substitute.  "The  justiciary  of  Aragon," 
he  observed,  "  became  by  degrees  the  law-giver." ' 
20.  On  the  morning  of  the  twentieth  Charles  Pinckney 
submitted  numerous  propositions ;  among  them  was 
one  that  "  Each  branch  of  the  legislature,  as  well  as 
the  supreme  executive,  shall  have  authority  to  re- 
quire the  opinions  of  the  supreme  judicial  court  upon 
important  questions  of  law,  and  upon  solenm  occa- 

'  r;il,,in,  1332;  Elliot,  428.  •  Gilpin,  1334;  Elliot,  439. 

"  Gilpiu,  1333;  Elliot,  429. 


THE   FEDERAL   JTJDICIAEY.  197 

sions."  *     This  article,  as  well  as  the  rest,  was  referred  chap. 

to  the  committee  of  detail,  without  debate  or  consid-  ^^,1^ 

eration  by  the  house,  and  was  never  aciain  heard  of.     i  *? » 7- 

....  ■'^"g- 

On  the  twenty-seventh  the  article  on  the  judiciary     27. 

reported  by  the  committee  of  detail  was  taken  up; 
and  it  was  agreed  that  "the  judicial  power  of  the 
United  States  shall  be  vested  in  one  supreme  court, 
and  such  inferior  courts  as  shall,  when  necessary, 
fi'om  time  to  time,  be  constituted  by  the  legislature 
of  the  United  States."  '  "  The  judges  of  the  supreme 
court,  and  of  the  inferior  courts,  shall  hold  their 
offices  during  good  behavior.  They  shall,  at  stated 
times,  receive  for  their  services  a  compensation  which 
shall  not  be  diminished  duriuo-  their  continuance  in 
office." '  Judges  of  inferior  courts  were  clothed  with 
the  same  independence  of  the  two  other  branches  of 
the  government  as  the  judges  of  the  supreme  court. 

Dickinson  thousiht  that  the  tenure  of  office  was 
made  too  absolute ;  and,  following  the  example  of 
Great  Britain  and  Massachusetts,  he  desired  that  the 
judges  should  be  removable  by  the  executive  on  ap- 
plication of  the  senate  and  the  house  of  representa- 
tives." "If  the  supreme  court,"  said  Rutledge,  "is 
to  judge  between  the  United  States  and  particular 
states,  this  alone  is  an  insuperable  objection  to  the 
motion."  The  clause  gained  no  vote  but  that  of 
Connecticut,  Massachusetts  being  absent.  In  Eng- 
land the  highest  judicial  officer  is  liable  to  change 
with  every  change  of  administration,  and  eyery  one 

'  Gilpin,  1365;  Elliot,  i.  249.  section  3,  it  is  omitted  here.     El- 

»  Gilpin,   1435.      As  the  phrase    liot,  481. 
"law  and  equity"  is  repeated  in        '  Gilpin,  1437;  Elliot,  482. 

*  Gilpin,  1436;  Elliot,  481. 


198  THE   FEDEEAL    CONVEXTIOIS'. 

CHAP,  may  be  removed  on  tlie  request  of  a  majority  in  eacli 

-^ ^-^  house   of  parliament;    every   judge  of   the   United 

^5^'^-  States,  fi'om  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  is  an  officer 

Aug.  ,  '  o  /  , 

27.  for  life  ;  unless  on  impeachment  convicted  with  the 
concuiTence  of  two  thirds  of  the  senate. 

The  judicial  power  was  by  a  motion  of  Johnson 
extended  to  cases  in  law  and  equity.  He  further 
proposed  to  extend  it  "  to  all  cases  arising  under  the 
constitution ; "  and  the  motion  was  agreed  to  without 
dissent,  because  in  the  opinion  of  the  convention  the 
jurisdiction  given  was  constmctively  limited  to  cases 
of  a  judiciary  nature.* 

In  this  way  Madison's  scheme  of  restraining  uncon- 
stitutional legislation  of  the  states  by  reserving  to  the 
legislature  of  the  union  a  veto  on  every  act  of  state 
legislation  was  finally  abandoned ;  and  the  power  of 
revisinoj  and  reversino;  a  clause  of  a  state  law  that 
conflicted  mth  the  federal  constitution  was  confided 
exclusively  to  the  federal  judiciary,  but  only  when  a 
case  should  be  properly  brought  before  the  court. 
Tlie  decision  of  the  court  in  all  cases  within  its  juris- 
diction is  final  between  the  parties  to  a  suit,  and 
must  be  carried  into  effect  by  the  proper  officers ; 
but,  as  an  interpretation  of  the  constitution,  it  does 
not  bind  the  president  or  the  legislature  of  the 
United  States.  Under  the  same  qualification  the 
constitution  gives  to  the  judges  the  power  to  com- 
pare any  act  of  congress  with  the  constitution.  But 
the  supreme  bench  can  set  aside  in  an  act  of  congress 
or  of  a  state  only  that  which  is  at  variance  with  the 
constitution  ;  if  it  be  merely  one  clause,  or  even  but 

»  Gilpin,  1438,  1439;  Elliot,  483. 


THE   FEDEEAL   JUDICIARY.  199 

one  word,  they  can  overrule  that  word  or  that  clause,  chap. 
and  no  more.  The  whole  law  can  never  be  set  aside  ^ — ,~- 
unless  every  part  of  it  is  tainted  with  unconstitution-  ^^u^  '^' 
ality.'  27^* 

Rutledge  next  added  that  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
court  should  extend  to  treaties  made,  or  to  be  made, 
under  the  authority  of  the  United  States ;  and  this 
proposal  was  readily  adopted." 

The  proposition  that  the  courts  should  conduct  the 
trial  of  impeachments  was  put  aside,  and  that  duty 
was  afterward  assio-ned  to  the  senate.  Two  clauses 
in  the  report  of  the  committee  of  detail,  which,  after 
a  precedent  in  the  confederacy,  confided  to  the  senate 
the  settlement  of  all  controversies  bet^yeen  two  or 
more  states  respecting  jurisdiction  or  territory,  and 
all  controversies  concerning  grants  of  the  same  lands 
by  two  or  more  states,  were  in  the  course  of  the  dis- 
cussion removed  from  the  senate  and  made  over  to 
the  federal  courts. 

In  constructing  the  judiciary,  extreme  care  was 
taken  to  keep  out  of  the  United  States  courts  all 
questions  which  related  to  matters  that  began  and 
ended  Avithin  a  separate  commonwealth.  This  inten- 
tion is  stamped  alike  on  the  federal  proposals  of  Vir- 
ginia, of  New  Jersey,  and  of  Connecticut ;  it  was 
carefully  respected  in  those  clauses  which  limit  the 
action  of  the  individual  states. 

The  original  jurisdiction  of  the  supreme  court  em- 
braces only  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  other  public 
ministers  and  consuls.  Cases  in  which  a  state  should 
be  a  party   were   added   for  the  single  purpose   of 

»  Curtis  in  Howard,  xix.  628.  *  Gilpin,  1439 ;  Elliot,  483. 


200  THE  FEDERAL  CONYENTIOX. 

CHAP,  auttorizlng  a  state  as  plaintiff  to  seek  justice  in 
.^^.^J!^  a  federal  court ;  it  was  as  little  intended  to  permit 
17  8  7.  individuals  to  brins^  a  state  there  as  a  defendant  as 
27''  to  arraign  an  ambassador.  The  appellate  power  in- 
cluded cases  of  admiralty  and  maritime  jurisdiction. 
In  these  three  classes  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court, 
original  in  two  of  them,  appellate  in  the  third,  is  in 
imperative  language  extended  "  to  all  cases."  But  as 
"  to  controversies  to  which  the  United  States  shall 
be  a  party;  to  controversies  between  two  or  more 
states ;  between  a  state  and  citizens  of  another  state ; 
between  citizens  of  different  states ;  between  citizens 
of  the  same  state  claiming  lands  under  grants  of  dif- 
ferent states,  and  between  a  state  or  the  citizens 
thereof  and  foreign  states,  citizens  or  subjects,"  the 
judicial  power  is  limited.  The  section  implies  that 
only  a  part  of  the  controversies  in  each  of  the  enu- 
merated classes  may  come  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  federal  courts ;  and  it  was  left  to  the  federal 
legislature  to  make  the  discrimination  which  in  its 
judgment  public  policy  might  dictate.*  Here  con- 
gress, and  congress  alone,  selects  the  controversies  to 
which  the  appellate  judicial  power  may  extend,  and 
at  its  own  judgment  limits  the  right  of  appeal.  The 
■  convention  purposely  made  it  the  duty  of  congress 
to  watch  over  tlie  development  of  the  system,  and 
restrict  accordingly  the  appellate  jurisdiction.  By 
reserving  to  the  tribunals  of  the  states  jurisdiction 
over  cases  that  may  properly  belong  to  them,  it  may 
rescue  the  federal  court  from  the  danger  of  losing  its 
efficiency  beneath  unmanageable  masses  of  business. 

'  Story  in  Curtis,  iii.  5G9  ;  Ellsworth  in  Curtis,  i.  343. 


THE    FEDERAL   JUDICIARY.  201 

Tlie  metliod  of  clioosing  tlie  federal  judiciary  was  chap. 
settled  without  strife.     The  motion  for  its  appoint-  — ^-^ 
ment  by  the  executive,  with  the  advice  and  consent  i  "^ » '7- 
of  the  senate,  when  first  proposed,  gained  an  equal 
vote ;  and  on  the  seventh  of  September  was  agreed    Sept. 
to  without  a  division.' 

The  supreme  court  was  to  be  the  "bulwark  of 
a  limited  constitution  against  legislative  encroach- 
ments." '  A  bench  of  a  few,  selected  with  care  by 
the  president  and  senate  from  the  nation,  seemed  a 
safer  tribunal  than  a  multitudinous  assembly  elected 
for  a  short  period  under  the  sway  of  passing  currents 
of  thought,  or  the  intrepid  fixedness  of  an  uncom- 
promising party.  There  always  remains  danger  of 
erroneous  judgments,  arising  from  mistakes,  imper- 
fect investigation,  the  bias  of  previous  connections, 
the  seductions  of  ambition,  or  the  instigations  of  sur- 
rounding opinions ;  and  a  court  from  which  there  is 
no  appeal  is  apt  to  forget  circumspection  in  its  sense 
of  security.  The  passage  of  a  judge  from  the  bar  to 
the  bench  does  not  necessarily  divest  him  of  preju- 
dices ;  nor  chill  his  relations  to  the  particular  politi- 
cal party  to  which  he  may  owe  his  advancement; 
nor  blot  out  of  his  memory  the  great  interests  which 
he  may  have  professionally  piloted  through  doubtful 
straits;  nor  quiet  the  ambition  which  he  is  not  re- 
quired to  renounce,  even  though  his  appointment  is 
for  life ;  nor  cure  predilections  which  sometimes  have 
their  seat  in  his  own  inmost  nature. 

But  the  constitution  retains  the  means  of  protect- 
ing itself  against  the  errors  of  partial  or  interested 

'  Gilpin,  1520 ;  Elliot,  524.  »  Federalist,  Ixxviii. 


202  THE    FEDERAL    COISTVENTION. 

CHAP,  judgments.  In  the  first  place,  tlie  force  of  a  judicial 
— ^  opinion  of  the  supreme  court,  in  so  far  as  it  is  irre- 
^^  ^t"^"  versible,  reaches  only  the  particular  case  in  dispute ; 
7.  and  to  this  society  submits,  in  order  to  escape  from 
anarchy  in  the  daily  routine  of  business.  To  the  de- 
cision on  an  underlying  question  of  constitutional  law 
no  such  finality  attaches.  To  endure,  it  must  be  right. 
If  it  is  right,  it  will  approve  itself  to  the  universal 
sense  of  the  impartial.  A  judge  who  can  justly  lay 
claim  to  integi'ity  will  never  lay  claim  to  infallibility ; 
but  mth  indefatigable  research  will  add,  retract,  and 
correct  whenever  more  mature  consideration  shows 
the  need  of  it.'  The  court  is  itself  inferior  and  sub- 
ordinate to  the  constitution ;  it  has  only  a  delegated 
authority,  and  every  opinion  contrary  to  the  tenor  of 
its  commission  is  void,  except  as  settling  the  case  on 
trial.  The  prior  act  of  the  superior  must  be  pre- 
ferred to  the  subsequent  act  of  an  inferior ;  otherwise 
it  might  transform  the  limited  into  an  unlimited  con- 
stitution. When  laws  clash,  the  latest  law  is  rightly 
held  to  express  tlie  corrected  will  of  the  legislature ; 
but  the  constitution  is  the  fundamental  code,  the  law 
of  laws ;  and  where  there  is  a  conflict  between  the 
constitution  and  a  decision  of  the  court,  the  original 
permanent  act  of  the  superior  outweighs  the  later  act 
of  tlie  inferior,  and  retains  its  own  supreme  energy 
unaltered  and  unalterable  except  in  the  manner  pre- 
scribed by  the  constitution  itself.  To  say  that  a 
court,  having  discovered  an  error,  should  yet  cling  to 
it  because  it  has  once  been  delivered  as  its  ojiinion,  is 
to  invest  caj)rice  with  inviolability  and  make  awron^^: 

'  Wilson's  Works,  i.  29. 


THE    FEDEKAL   JUDICIAEY.  203 

judgment  of  a  servant  outweigli  tlie  constitution  to  chap. 
wMcli  lie  lias  sworn  obedience.     An  act  of  tlie  legis-  — ,-^ 
lature  at  variance  with  tlie  constitution  is  pronounced  ^g^^^^*^- 
void;  an  opinion  of  tlie  supreme  cornet  at  variance      ?• 
witli  tlie  constitution  is  equally  so. 

Next  to  tlie  court  itself,  tlie  men  wlio  framed  tlie 
constitution  relied  upon  tlie  power  and  tlie  readi- 
ness of  congress  to  punish  through  impeachment  the 
substitution  of  the  personal  will  of  the  judge  for  the 
law. 

A  third  influence  may  rise  up  "  as  the  rightful  in- 
terpreter of  this  great  charter "  of  American  rights 
and  American  power  in  "  the  good  sense " '  of  the 
land,  wiser  than  the  judges  alone,  because  it  includes 
within  itself  the  wisdom  of  the  judges  themselves ; 
and  this  may  lead  either  to  the  better  instruction  of 
the  court,  or  to  an  amendment  of  the  constitution  by 
the  collective  mind  of  the  country. 

The  consolidation  of  the  union  was  to  be  made 
visible  to  the  nation  and  the  world  by  the  establish- 
ment of  a  seat  of  government  for  the  United  States 
under  their  exclusive  jurisdiction  ;  and  like  authority 
was  to  be  exercised  over  all  places  purchased  for 
forts,  dock-yards,  and  other  needful  buildings."  It 
was  not  doubted  that  the  government  of  the  union 
should  defend  each  state  asjainst  forei^rn  enemies  and 
concurrently  against  domestic  violence;  and  should 
guarantee  to  every  one  of  the  states  the  form  of  a 
republic* 

'  Cooley's    Constitutional  Law,         '  Gilpin,  734,   861,  1141,   1241, 

224;  Curtis,  iv.  390.  1621;    Elliot,  128,  190,  333,  381, 

^Gilpin,  740,  1218,  1295,  1612;     564. 
Elliot,  130,  374,  409,  561. 


204  THE  FEDERAL  CONVENTION. 

CHAP.       Sherman  hesitated  about  granting  power  to  estab- 
v^^'^  lisli  uniform  laws  on  the  subject  of  bankruptcies,  lest 
1^^''-  they  might  be  made  punishable  even  with   death. 
3.      "  This,"  said  Gouverneur  Morris,  "  is  an  extensive  and 
delicate  subject.     I  see  no  danger  of  abuse  of  the 
power  by  the  legislature  of  the  United  States."  *     On 
the  question  the  clause  was  agreed  to,  Connecticut 
alone  beins;  in  the  neo:ative. 
8.         So  soon  as  the  small  states  secured  an  equal  repre- 
sentation in  the  senate,  they  ceased  to  be  jealous  of 
its  influence  on  money  bills;  finally,  on  the  eighth 
of  September,  it  was  settled  unanimously  that,  while 
the  initiative  of  bills  for  raising  revenue  should  be 
confined   to  the  house  of  representatives,  the  senate 
might  propose  amendments  as  on  other  bills,  and  origi- 
nate bills  for  appropriations."* 

On  the  same  da}^,  just  before  the  adjournment,  Wil- 
liamson strove  to  increase  the  number  of  the  first 
house  of  representatives ;  and  was  seconded  by  Mad- 
ison. Hamilton  spoke  with  earnestness  and  anxiety 
for  the  motion.  "I  am,"  said  he,  "a  friend  to  a 
vigorous  government;  at  the  same  time  I  hold  it 
essential  that  the  pojiular  branch  of  the  government 
should  rest  on  a  broad  foundation.  The  house  of 
representatives  is  on  so  narrow  a  scale  as  to  warrant 
a  jealousy  in  the  people  for  their  liberties.  The  con- 
nection between  the  president  and  the  senate  will 
tend  to  perpetuate  him  by  corrupt  influence ;  on  this 
account  a  numerous  representation  in  the  other  branch 
of  the  legislature  should  be  established."    The  motion 

'  riilpin,  1181;  Elliot,  504.  Hot,  510,  529;  Elliot,  i.  285,  294, 

'Gilpin,  1494,  1530,  1531;    El-     295. 


THE   FEDEKAL   JUDICIAEY.  205 

was  lost  by  one  majority ;  Pennsylvania  and  the  four  cnAP. 
states  nearest  her  on  the  south  being  outvoted  by  .--V^ 
New  Jersey  and  the  New  England  states  at  one  ex-  ^^^^^' 
treme,  and  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  at  the  other/  8. 
It  remained  to  mark  out  the  way  in  which  the  new  lo. 
constitution  should  be  ratified.  The  convention  had 
shown  a  disinclination  to  ask  for  it  the  approbation 
of  cono-ress.  Hamilton  saw  in  the  omission  an  inde- 
corum,  and  made  the  rash  motion  that  congress,  if 
they  should  agree  to  the  constitution,  should  trans- 
mit it  for  ratification  to  the  legislatures  of  the  several 
states.  Gerry  seconded  him."  Wilson  strongly  dis- 
approved "the  suspending  the  plan  of  the  conven- 
tion on  the  approbation  of  congress."  He  declared 
it  worse  than  folly  to  rely  on  the  concurrence  of  the 
Ehode  Island  members  of  congress.  Maryland  had 
voted,  on  the  floor  of  the  convention,  for  requiring  the 
unanimous  assent  of  the  thirteen  states  to  the  change 
in  the  federal  system ;  for  a  long  time  New  York  had 
not  been  represented  ;  deputies  from  other  states  had 
spoken  against  the  plan.  "Can  it  then  be  safe  to 
make  the  assent  of  congress  necessary  ?  We  are  our- 
selves, at  the  close,  throwing  insuperable  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  its  success." '  Clymer  thought  the  pro- 
posed mode  would  fetter  and  embarrass  congress ; 
and  King  and  Kutledge  concurring  with  him,  Hamil- 
ton's motion  was  sup^Dorted  only  by  Connecticut.'  It 
was  then  voted,  in  the  words  of  the  report  of  the 
committee  of  detail :  "  This  constitution  shall  be  laid 
before  the  United  States  in  congress  assembled ;  and 

»  Gilpin,  1533;  Elliot,  530.  =  Gilpin,  1540;  Elliot,  534. 

*  Gilpin,  1539;  Elliot,  533.  *  Gilpin,  1541;  Elliot,  534. 


206  THE   FEDEEAL    COlSTYENTIOlSr. 

CHAP,  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  convention  that  it  should  be 
.-.-A-  afterward  submitted  to  a  convention  chosen  in  each 
^J  ^  '^-  state,  under  the  recommendation  of  its  le2:islature,  in 

bept.  '  ,  ^  ^  . 

10.  order  to  receive  the  ratification  of  such  convention." 
In  substance  this  method  was  never  changed;  in 
form  it  was  removed  fi'om  the  constitution  and  em- 
bodied in  a  directory  resolution.* 

Randolph  now  began  to  speak  of  the  constitution 
as  a  plan  which  would  end  in  tyranny  ;  and  proposed 
that  the  state  conventions,  on  receiving  it,  should  have 
power  to  adopt,  reject,  or  amend  it ;  after  which  an- 
other general  convention  should  meet  with  full  power 
to  adopt  or  reject  the  proposed  alterations,  and  to 
establish  finally  the  government.  Franklin  seconded 
the  motion.'  Out  of  respect  to  its  authors,  the  propo- 
sition was  allowed  to  remain  on  the  table ;  but  by  a 
unanimous  vote  it  was  ordered  that  the  constitution 
should  be  established  on  its  ratification  by  the  con- 
ventions of  nine  states."  Finally,  a  committee  of  five 
was  appointed  to  revise  its  style  and  the  arrange- 
ment of  its  articles. 

'  Art.  xxii.  of  draft  of  the  con-         ""  Gilpin,  1542 ;  Elliot,  535. 
stitution  suhmittcd  to  the  commit-         ^  Gilpin,  1571;  Elliot,  541. 
tee  of  revision,  Sept.    10th.     Gil- 
pin, 1570;  Elliot,  541. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

the  last  days  of  the  convention. 

September  12  to  September  17,  1787. 

The  committee  to  whom  tlie  constitution  was  re-  chap. 
ferred  for  the   arrangement  of  its  articles  and  the  — .-L. 
revision  of  its  style  were  Johnson,  Hamilton,  Gouver-  ^^^^' 
neur  Morris,  Madison,  and  King.     The  final  draft  of     12. 
the  instrument  was  written  by  Gouverneur  Morris,' 
who  knew  how  to  reject  redundant  and  equivocal  ex- 
pressions, and  to  use  language  with  clearness  and 
vigor ;  but  the  convention  itself  had  given  so  minute, 
long-continued,   and  oft-renewed  attention  to  every 
phrase  in  every  section,  that  there  scarcely  remained 
room  for  improvement  except  in  the  distribution  of 
its  parts. 

Its  first  words  are :  "  We  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect  union,  to 
establish  justice,  ensure  domestic  tranquillity,  pro- 
vide for  the  common  defence,  promote  the  general 
welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  our- 
selves and  our  posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish  this 

»  G.  Morris  to  T.  Pickering,  22  Dec,  1814,  in  Life  by  Sparks,  iii.  323. 


208  ■  THE   FEDERAL    COITVENTIOIT. 

constitution  for  tlie  United  States  of  America." 
Here  is  no  transient  compact  between  parties :  it  is 
tlie  institution  of  government  by  an  act  of  the  liigli- 
est  sovereignty ;  tlie  decree  of  many  who  are  yet  one ; 
their  law  of  laws,  inviolably  supreme,  and  not  to  be 
changed  except  in  the  way  which  their  forecast  has 
provided. 

The  names  of  the  thirteen  states,  so  carefully  enu- 
merated in  the  articles  of  confederation  and  in  the 
treaty  of  peace,  were  omitted,  because  the  constitu- 
tion was  to  go  into  effect  on  its  acceptance  by  nine 
of  them,  and  the  states  by  which  it  would  be  ratified 
could  not  be  foreknown.  The  deputies  in  the  con- 
vention, representing  but  eleven  states,  did  not  pre- 
tend to  be  "  the  people ; "  and  could  not  institute  a 
general  government  in  its  name.  The  instrument 
which  they  framed  was  like  the  report  of  a  bill  be- 
ginning with  the  words  "  it  is  enacted,"  though  the 
binding  enactment  awaits  the  will  of  the  legislatui*e ; 
or  like  a  deed  drawn  up  by  an  attorney  for  several 
parties,  and  awaiting  its  execution  by  the  principals 
themselves.  Only  by  its  acceptance  could  the  words 
"  we  the  people  of  the  United  States  "  become  words 
of  truth  and  power. 

The  phrase  "  general  welfare,"  *  adopted  from  the 
articles  of  confederation,  though  seemingly  vague,  was 
employed  in  a  rigidly  restrictive  sense  to  signify  "  the 
concerns  of  the  union  at  large,  not  the  particular 
policy  of  any  state." '  The  word  "  national "  was  ex- 
cluded from  the  constitution,  because  it  might  seem 

*  Gilpin,  1543;  Elliot,  558.  "  Wasliinj^ton   to  William  Gor- 

don, 8  July,  1783. 


THE   LAST  DAYS    OF   THE   CONVENTION.  209 

to  present  the  idea  of  tlie  union  of  tlie  people  with-  chap. 
out  at  the  same  time  bringing  into  \4ew,  that  the  one  -^-r-^ 
republic  was  formed  out  of  many  states.  Toward  for-  ^  ^  ^  '^• 
eign  powers  the  country  presented  itself  as  one  nation.     12. 

The  arrano-ement  of  the  articles  and  sections  is 
faultless ;  the  style  of  the  whole  is  nearly  so.  The 
branches  of  the  legislatui^e  are  definitively  named 
senate  and  house  of  representatives,  the  senate,  at 
last,  having  precedence;  the  two  together  take  the 
historic  name  of  consress. 

The  veto  of  the  president  could  still  be  overruled 
only  by  thi'ee  fourths  of  each  branch  of  congress ;  the 
majority  of  the  convention,  fearing  lest  so  large  a  re- 
quisition would  impose  too  great  a  difficulty  in  repeal- 
ing bad  laws,^  at  this  last  moment  substituted  the 
vote  of  two  thu'ds. 

Williamson  pointed  out  the  necessity  of  providing 
for.jui'ies  in  civil  cases."  "It  is  not  possible,"  said 
Gorham,  "  to  discriminate  equity  cases  from  those  in 
which  juries  would  be  proper ;  and  the  matter  may 
safely  be  trusted  to  the  representatives  of  the  peo- 
ple." '  Gerry  urged  the  necessity  of  juries  as  a  safe- 
guard against  corrupt  judges.  "  A  general  principle 
laid  down  on  this  and  some  other  points  would  be 
sufficient,"  said  Mason,  and  he  joined  with  Gerry  in 
moving  for  a  bill  of  rights. 

The  declaration  of  American  independence,  by  the 
truths  which  it  announced,  called  forth  s}Tnpathy  in 
all  parts  of  the  world.  Could  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States  have  been  accompanied  by  a  like  sol- 

1  Gilpin,  1563;  Elliot,  537.  =  Gilpin,  1565;  Elliot,  538. 

*  Gilpin,  1565;  Elliot,  538. 

VOL.  u.  14 


210  THE  FEDERAL  CONVENTION. 

CHAP,  emn  declaration  of  tlie  principles  on  wMcli  it  rested, 

■S-r^  tlie  states  would  have  been  held  together  by  the  holi- 

^SeV*  ^®*  ^^^  strongest  bonds/     But,  in  the  absence  of 

12.     Massachusetts,  the  motion  was  lost  by  a  unanimous 

vote. 

The  style  of  the  executive,  as  silently  carried  for- 
ward from  the  committee  of  detail,  was  still  "his 
Excellency ; "  this  vanished  in  the  committee  of  re- 
vision, so  that  he  might  be  known  only  as  the  presi- 
dent of  the  United  States. 
IS.  Following  a  precedent  of  the  first  congress.  Mason, 
on  the  thirteenth,  seconded  by  Johnson,  moved  for  a 
committee  to  report  articles  of  association  for  encour- 
aging economy,  frugality,  and  American  manufac- 
tures.' It  was  adopted  without  debate  and  without 
opposition.  The  proposal  was  referred  to  Mason, 
Franklin,  Dickinson,  Johnson,  and  William  Living- 
ston ;  but  no  report  was  made. 

'  Here  manuscrii^ts  and  printed  texts  differ  in  an  astonishing  manner. 

Manuscript  Journal.  Text  in  Elliot,  i.  806. 

It  "was  moved  and  seconded  to  It  was  moved  and  seconded  to 

appoint  a  committee  to  prepare  a  appoint  a  committee  to  prepare  a 

bill  of  rights,  which  passed  in  the  bill  of  rights  ;  which  passed  UNAJSf- 

negative.  imously  in  the  negative. 

Manuscript  of  Madison.  Text  in  Gilpin,  15GG.     Elliot,  5d8. 

On  the  question  for  a  committee  On  the  question  for  a  committee 
to  prejmre  a  bill  of  rights —  to  prepare  a  bill  of  rights — 

N.  II.  no,  Mas.  abst.,  Ct.  no.  New  Hampshire,  Connecticut, 
N.  J.  no.  Pa.  no,  Del.  no,  Md.  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Dela- 
no, Va.  no,  N.  C.  no,  S.  C.  no,  ware,  aye — 5  ;  Maryland,  Virginia, 
Geo.  no.  North   Carolina,    South   Carolina, 

Georgia,    no — 5  ;    Massachusetts, 
absent. 

The  manuscript  of  Madison,  which  is  plainly  written,  represents  the 
motion  as  negatived  unanimously  ;  the  printed  edition,  as  lost  by  a 
jmroly  geogriipiiical  division.     The  change  remains  as  yet  a  mystery. 

^  Gilpin,  1508;  Elliot,  510. 


THE   LAST   DAYS    OF   THE   CONVENTION.  211 

From  tlie  work  of  tlie  committee  of  detail  the  chap. 
word  "  servitude  "  survived  as  applied  to  tlie  engage-  J^A^ 
ment  to  labor  for  a  term  of  years ;  on  tlie  motion  of  "^^  ^^• 
RandolplL  the  word  "  service  "  was  unanimously  sub-     i3. 
stituted  for  it,  servitude  being  thought  to  express  the 
condition  of  slaves,  service  an  obligation  of  free  per- 
sons.' 

On  the  same  day  Johnson,  from  the  committee  on 
style,  reported '  resolutions  for  the  ratification  of  the 
constitution  through  congress  by  conventions  of  the 
people  of  the  several  states ;  and  then  for  the  elec- 
tion of  senators,  represejitatives,  and  electors,  and 
through  them  of  president.  Nothing  was  omitted  to 
make  it  certain  that  at  a  fixed  time  and  place  the 
government  under  the  constitution  would  start  into 
being. 

On  the  fourteenth  it  was  confirmed  without  dis-     i4. 
sent  that  congress  should  have  no  right  to  change 
the  places  of  the  election  of  senators. 

The  appointment  of  the  treasurer  as  the  keeper  of 
the  purse  had  thus  far  been  jealously  reserved  to  the 
two  houses  of  congress.'  It  marks  the  confidence  of 
the  convention  in  its  own  work,  that  at  this  period 
the  selection  of  that  officer  was  confided  to  the  presi- 
dent and  senate. 

On  the  same  day  Franklin,  seconded  by  Wilson, 
moved  to  add,  after  the  authority  to  establish  post-of- 
fices and  post-roads,  a  power  "  to  provide  for  cutting 
canals."*  "The  expense,"  objected  Sherman,  "wdU 
fall  on  the  United  States,  and  the  benefit  accrue  to  the 

'  Gilpin,  1233,  1544,   1569;  El-  'Gilpin,  1574;  Elliot,  542. 

Uot,  879,  540,  559.  "  Gilpin,  1576 ;  Elliot,  543. 

*  Gilpin,  1570, 1571 ;  Elliot,  541. 


212  THE   FEDEEAL    COIH^ENTION. 

CHAP,  places  wliere  tlie  canals  are  cut."  "Canals,"  replied 
Wilson,  "instead  of  being  an  expense  to  tlie  United 
States,  may  be  made  a  source  of  revenue."  Madison, 
supported  by  Randolph,  suggested  an  enlargement  of 
the  motion  into  a  warrant  to  grant  charters  of  incorpo- 
ration which  might  exceed  the  legislative  provisions 
of  individual  states,  and  yet  be  required  by  the  in- 
terest of  the  United  States ;  political  obstacles  to  an 
easy  communication  between  the  states  being  re- 
moved, a  removal  of  natural  ones  ought  to  follow.^ 
The  necessity  of  the  power  was  denied  by  King.  "  It 
is  necessary,"  answered  Wilson,  "  to  prevent  a  state 
from  obstructing  the  general  welfare."  "  The  states," 
rejoined  King,  "  will  be  divided  into  parties  to  grant 
charters  of  incor]3oration,  in  Philadelphia  and  New 
York  to  a  bank,  in  other  places  to  mercantile  mo- 
nopolies."' Wilson  insisted  on  the  importance  of 
facilitating  by  canals  the  communication  with  the 
western  settlements.'  The  motion,  even  when  limited 
to  the  case  of  canals,  gained  no  votes  but  those  of 
Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  Georgia.* 

Madison  and  Charles  Pinckney  asked  for  congress 
permission  to  establish  a  university  in  which  no  prefer- 
ences should  be  allowed  on  account  of  religion.  "  The 
exclusive  power  of  congress  at  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment will  reach  the  object,"  said  Gouverneur  Morris. 
The  motion  was  sustained  only  by  Pennsylvania,  Vir- 
ginia, and  North  and  South  Carolina ;  in  Connecticut, 
Johnson  divided  ai^ainst  Sherman.* 

In  framing  the  constitution,  Madison  kept  in  mind 

'  Gilpin,  1576;  Elliot,  544.  *  Gilpin,  1577;  Elliot,  544. 

'  ll.id.  'Gilpin,     1577,     1578;     Elliot, 

»  Gilpin,  1577;  Elliot,  544.  544. 


THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  CONVENTION.     213 

that  tlie  functions  of  the  general  government  should  chap. 
extend  to  the  prevention  of  "trespasses  of  the  states 
on  the  rights  of  each  other." '  "  The  rights  of  individu- 
als," he  said  in  the  convention,  "  are  infringed  hj  many 
of  the  state  laws,  such  as  issuing  paper  money,  and 
instituting  a  mode  to  discharge  debts  differing  from 
the  form  of  the  contract."*  It  has  already  been 
told  how  the  delegates  from  Connecticut  had  agreed 
among  themselves  "  that  the  legislatures  of  the  in- 
dividual states  ought  not  to  possess  a  right  to  make 
any  laws  for  the  discharge  of  contracts  in  any  man- 
ner different  from  the  agreement  of  the  parties."' 
Stringent  clauses  in  the  constitution  already  pro- 
hibited paper  money.  For  the  rest.  King,  as  we  have 
seen,  proposed  a  clause  forbidding  the  states  to  in- 
terfere in  private  contracts ;  but  the  motion  had  been 
condemned  as  reaching  too  far ;  and  instead  of  it,  at 
the  instance  of  Rutledge,  the  convention  denied  to 
the  states  the  power  "  to  pass  bills  of  attainder  or  esc 
post  facto  laws."*  In  this  manner  it  was  supposed 
that  laws  for  closing  the  courts,  or  anthorizing  the 
debtor  to  pay  his  debts  by  more  convenient  instal- 
ments than  he  had  covenanted  for,  were  effectually 
prohibited.  But  Dickinson,  as  we  have  seen,  after 
consulting  Blackstone,  mentioned  to  the  house  that 
the  term  ex  post  facto  relsited.  to  criminal  cases  only; 
and  that  restraint  of  the  states  from  retrospective 
laws  in  civil  cases  wonld  require  some  further  pro- 
vision.'    Before  an  explanatory  provision  had  been 

^  Madison,  i.  321.  '  Sherman  by  J.  Evarts  in  Bi- 

^  Yates's  Minutes,  Elliot,  i.  424,  ogrraphy  of  the  Signers,  ii.  43. 

425.    Compare  Gilpin,  898 ;  Elliot,  ^  Elliot,  i.  271. 

208.  "Gilpin,  1450;  Elliot,  488. 


214  THE  FEDEEAL  CONTENTION. 

CHAP,  made,  tlie  section  came  into  the  liands  of  tKe  commit- 

XI  .  . 

•^ r^  tee  on  revision  and  style.     That  committee  had  no 

^o^'^'  authority  to  bring  forward  any  new  proposition, 
H-  but  only  to  make  corrections  of  style.  Gouver- 
neur  Morris  retained  the  clause  forbidding  ex  ])ost 
facto  laws ;  and^  resolute  not  "  to  countenance  the 
issue  of  paper  money  and  the  consequent  viola- 
tion of  contracts,"  *  he  of  himself  added  the  words : 
"No  state  shall  pass  laws  altering  or  impaiiing  the 
obligation  of  contracts."  The  convention  reduced 
the  explanatory  words  to  the  shorter  form :  "  No  state 
shall  pass  any  law  imj)airing  the  obligation  of  con- 
tracts."^ In  this  manner  an  end  was  designed  to  be 
made  to  barren  land  laws,  laws  for  the  instalment  of 
debts,  and  laws  closing  the  courts  against  suitors. 
Sherman  and  Ellsworth,  in  their  official  letter  recom- 
mending the  constitution  to  Connecticut,  explained  the 
intent  of  the  convention  by  saying :  "  The  restraint 
on  the  legislatures  of  the  several  states  respecting 
emitting  bills  of  credit,  making  anything  but  money 
a  tender  in  payment  of  debts,  or  impau'ing  the  obli- 
gation of  contracts  by  ex  post  facto  laws,  was  thought 
necessary  as  a  security  to  commerce,  in  which  the 
interest  of  foreigners  as  well  as  of  the  citizens  of  dif- 
ferent states  may  be  affected." ' 
15  From   fresh   information  it  appeared  to  Sherman 

that  North  Carolina  was  entitled  to  another  represen- 
tative ;  and  Langdon  moved  to  allow  one  more  mem- 
ber to  that  state,  and  likewise  one  more  to  Rhode 

'  G.  Morris  by  Sparks,  iii.  333.  worth,  delegates  from  Connecticut 

'  Gilpin,  1552,  15bl;  Elliot,  540,  in  the  federal  convention,  to  the  gov- 

501.  ernor  of  said  state.  New  Loudon, 

'  Roger  Sherman  and  Oliver  Ells-  30  Sept.,  1787.    Elliot,  i.  491,  493. 


THE  LAST  DAYS  OF  THE  CONVENTION.     215 

Island/      "If   Rhode  Island  is  to  be   allowed  two  chap. 
members,"  said  King,  "  I  can  never  sign  the  constitu- 
tion." 


Charles  Pinckney  urged  separately  the  just  claim 
of  North  Carolina ;  on  which  Bedford  put  in  a  like 
claim  for  Rhode  Island  and  for  Delaware ;  and  the 
original  proposition  was  hopelessly  defeated." 

Randolph  and  Madison  disliked  leaving  the  pardon 
for  treason  to  the  president  alone ;  but  the  conven- 
tion would  not  suffer  the  legislature  or  the  senate  to 
share  that  power." 

The  committee  of  revision  had  described  a  fugitive 
slave  as  "  a  person  legally  held  to  service  or  labor  in 
one  state."  The  language  seemed  to  imply  that 
slavery  was  a  "  legal "  condition ;  the  last  word  of  the 
convention  relating  to  the  subject  defined  the  fugi- 
tive slave  to  be  "  a  person  held  to  service  or  labor 
in  one  state  under  the  laws  thereof,"  making  it  clear 
that,  in  the  meaning  of  the  constitution,  slavery  was 
local  and  not  federal.* 

The  convention  gave  the  last  touches  to  the  modes 
of  amending  the  constitution.  In  August  the  com- 
mittee of  detail  had  reported  that,  "  on  the  applica- 
tion of  the  legislatures  of  two  thirds  of  the  states  in 
the  union,  the  legislature  of  the  United  States  shall 
call  a  convention  for  that  purpose." '  On  the  thirtieth 
day  of  August,  Gouverneur  Morris  had  suggested 
that  congress  "  should  be  at  liberty  to  call  a  conven- 
tion whenever  it  pleased."  °     "  An  easier  mode  of  in-     lo. 

>  Gilpin,  1583;  Elliot,  547.  *  Gilpin,  1558,  1589,  1G30  ;  El- 

*  GUpin,    1583,    1584  ;     Elliot,  liot,  550,  564. 

547.  *  Gilpin,  1241 ;  Elliot,  381. 

=>  Gilpin,  1587;  Elliot,  549.  "  Gilpin,  1468;  Eillot,  498. 


216  THE  FEDEEAL  CONVENTION. 

CHAP,  troducing  amendments,"  said  Hamilton,  reviving  the 
— ^  question,  "is  desirable.     Tlie  state  legislatures  will 
^g^  ^^-  not  apply  for  alterations  but  with  a  view  to  increase 
10.     tlieir  own  powers.     The  national  legislature  will  be 
the  first  to  perceive  the  necessity  of  amendments ;  and 
on  the  concurrence  of  each  branch  ought  to  be  em^ 
powered  to  call  a  convention,  reserving  the  final  de 
cision  to  the  people."  *    Madison  supported  Hamilton 
Here  Sherman  suggested  an  alternative  :  the  legis 
lature  may  propose  amendments  directly  to  the  sev 
eral  states,  not  to  be  binding  until  consented  to  by 
them  all.'     "  To  be  binding  when  consented  to  by  two 
thirds  of  the  several  states,"  interposed  Wilson.     To 
facilitate  amendments,  the  convention  authorized  two 
thirds  of  congress  to  introduce  amendments  to  the  con- 
stitution ;  but,  to  prevent  hasty  changes,  required  for 
their  ratification  the  assent  of  three  fourths  of  the 
leo^islatures  or  conventions  of  the  states. 

Madison,  summing  up  the  ideas  that  had  found 
favor,  moved  that  the  legislature  of  the  United  States, 
upon  a  vote  of  two  thirds  of  both  houses,  or  upon  the 
application  of  two  thirds  of  the  legislatures  of  the 
states,  shall  propose  amendments  to  the  constitution 
which  shall  be  valid  when  they  shall  have  been  rati- 
fied by  three  fourths  at  least  of  the  several  states  in 
their  legislatures  or  conventions,  as  one  or  the  other 
mode  of  ratification  may  be  proposed  by  the  legis- 
lature of  the  United  States." 

This  motion  was  accepted,  but  not  till  it  had  been 
agreed  tliat  the  clauses  in  the  constitution  forming 

'  Gilpin,  in?A;  Elliot,  mi.  "  Gilpin,  1535;  Elliot,  C31. 

'  Gil])in,  1535;  Elliot,  531. 


THE   LAST   DAYS    OF   THE   COl^VENTIOlSr.  217 

special  covenants  with  tlie  South  on  slavery  should  chap. 
not  be  liable  to  change.     Five  days  later  the  fears  of  ^^^ 
the  small  states  were  quieted  by  a  proviso  that  no  \?.^ Z^* 
state  mthout  its  own  consent  should  ever  be  deprived     is- 
of  its  equality  in  the  senate/ 

Finally,  on  maturest  reflection,  the  proposition  of 
the  committee  of  detail,  obliging  congress  to  call  a 
convention  on  application  of  two  thirds  of  the 
states,  was  restored.  Amendments  to  the  consti- 
tution might  proceed  from  the  people  as  represent- 
ed in  the  legislatures  of  the  states ;  or  from  the 
people  as  represented  in  congress ;  or  from  the  peo- 
ple as  present  in  a  convention ;  in  every  case  to  be 
valid  only  with  the  assent  of  three  foui^ths  of  the 
states. 

Mason,  in  sullen  discontent  at  the  grant  of  power 
to  a  bare  majority  of  congress  to  pass  navigation  acts, 
and  di'eadino;  that  "a  few  rich  merchants  in  Philadel- 
phia.  New  York,  and  Boston  "  might  by  that  means 
monopolize  the  staples  of  the  southern  states  and  re- 
duce their  value  perhaps  fifty  per  cent,  moved  "  that 
no  law  in  the  nature  of  a  navigation  act  be  passed 
before  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  eight,  without 
the  consent  of  two  thirds  of  each  branch  of  the  legis- 
lature ; "  but  he  was  supported  only  by  Maryland, 
Virginia,  and  Georgia." 

Next,  Kandolph,  whose  weight  as  governor  of  Vir- 
ginia might  turn  the  scale  in  that  state,  declared  his 
intention  to  withhold  his  signature  from  the  consti- 
tution that  he  might  retain  freedom  as  to  his  ultimate 
action;    and,  agreeing  exactly  with  Richard  Henry 

»  Gilpin,  1592;  Elliot,  553.  "  Gilpin,  1593;  Elliot,  553. 


218  THE  FEDERAL  CONTENTION. 

CHAP.  Lee/  lie  moved  "  tliat  state  conventions  miglit  have 
XI  ... 

tlie  power  to  offer  to  the  constitution  which  was  to 

be  laid  before  them  as  many  amendments  as  they 
pleased;  and  that  these  amendments,  together  with 
the  constitution,  should  be  submitted  to  another  gen- 
eral convention  " '  for  a  final  decision.  He  was  sec- 
onded by  Mason,  who  said:  "The  government  as 
established  by  the  constitution  will  surely  end  either 
in  monarchy  or  a  tyrannical  aristocracy.  As  it  now 
stands,  I  can  neither  give  it  my  support  in  Virginia, 
nor  sign  it  here.  With  the  expedient  of  another  con- 
vention I  could  sign." ' 

"I,  too,"  said  Charles  Pinckney,  "object  to  the 
power  of  a  majority  of  congress  over  commerce ;  but, 
apprehending  the  danger  of  a  general  confusion  and 
an  ultimate  decision  by  the  sword,  I  shall  give  the 
plan  my  support."  Then  Gerry  counted  up  eight 
objections  to  the  constitution,  "all"  of  which  he 
could  yet  get  over,  were  it  not  that  the  legislature 
had  general  power  to  make  "  necessary  and  proper " 
laws,  to  raise  "armies  and  money"  without  limit,  and 
to  establish  "  a  star  chamber  as  to  civil  cases  ; "  and 
he,  too,  contended  for  a  second  general  convention. 

On  the  proposition  for  another  convention  all  the 
states  answered  "No."  "Washington  then  put  the 
question  of  agreeing  to  the  constitution  in  its  present 
form;  and  all  the  states  present  answered  "Aye." 
The  constitution  was  then  ordered  to  be  engrossed, 
and  late  on  the  evening  of  Saturday  the  house  ad- 
journed.* 

>  Compare  R.  II.  Lcc  to  Chan-         ""  Cilpin,  1503;  Elliot,  553. 
Cfllor  Pciullcton,  22  May,  1788,  in         =  (}ili)in,  15!)4;  Elliot,  552,  55 
Life,  ii.  03,  94.  *  Gilpiu,  15i)5;  Elliot,  553. 


THE   LAST   DAYS   OF   THE   CONVENTIOI^.  219 

One  morning  Washington,  in  a  desultory  conver-  chap. 
sation  with  members  of  the  convention  before  the  >— ,-1^ 
chair  was  taken,  observed  how  unhappy  it  would  be  i  *?  s  7. 
should  any  of  them  oppose  the  system  when  they  re- 
turned to  their  states.*     On  Monday,  the  seventeenth    Sept. 
of  September,  Franklin  made  a  last  effort  to  van  over 
the  dissenting  members.     "Mr.  President,"  said  he, 
"■  several  parts  of  this  constitution  I  do  not  at  pres- 
ent apj)rove,  but  I  am  not  sure  I  shall  never  approve 
them.     It  astonishes  me  to  find  this  system  approach- 
ing so  near  to  perfection.     I  consent  to  this  consti- 
tution  because  I  expect  no  better,  and  because   I 
am  not  sure  that  it  is  not  the  best.     The  opinions 
I  have   had  of   its  errors  I  sacrifice   to   the   public 
good. 

"  On  the  whole,  sir,  I  cannot  help  expressing  a 
wdsh  that  every  member  of  the  convention,  who  may 
still  have  objections  to  it,  would  with  me  on  this  oc- 
casion doubt  a  little  of  his  own  infallibility,  and,  to 
manifest  our  unanimity,  put  his  name  to  this  iustni- 
ment."°  He  then  moved  that  the  constitution  be 
signed  by  the  members ;  and  he  offered  as  the  form 
of  signature  a  simple  testimony  that  the  constitution 
had  received  "the  unanimous  consent  of  the  states 
present." '  But  this  ample  concession  induced  neither 
Mason,  nor  Gerry,  nor  Randolph  to  relent. 

Before  the  question  was  put,  Gorham,  obeying  an 
intimation  fi'om  Washington,  proposed  to  render  the 
house  of  representatives  a  more  popular  body  by  al- 
lowing one  member  for  every  thirty  thousand  inhabi- 

^  Luther    Martin    in    Maryland         =  Gilpin,  1597,  1598;  Elliot,  554, 
Journal  of  21  March,  1788.  555. 

'  Gilpin,  1598 ;  Elliot,  555. 


220  THE   FEDERAL   COTT^ENTIOIT. 

CHAP,  tants.     He  was  warmly  seconded  by  King  and  Car- 

Ji^  roU/ 

^^  ^  '^-  Rising  to  put  tlie  question,  tlie  president,  after  an 
i*?-  apology  for  offering  his  sentiments,  said :  "  I  would 
make  objections  to  tlie  plan  as  few  as  possible.  The 
smallness  of  the  number  of  representatives  has  been 
considered  by  many  members  as  insufficient  security 
for  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  people ;  and  to  my- 
self has  always  appeared  exceptionable ;  late  as  is  the 
moment,  it  will  give  me  much  satisfaction  to  see  the 
amendment  adopted  unanimously."*  And  at  his 
word  it  was  so  adopted. 

On  the  question  to  agree  to  the  engrossed  constitu- 
tion, all  the  states  answered  "  Aye." ' 

Randolph  then  apologized  for  refusing  to  sign  the 
constitution,  "  notwithstanding  the  vast  majority  and 
the  venerable  names  which  gave  sanction  to  its  wis- 
dom and  its  worth.  I  do  not  mean  by  this  refusal," 
he  continued,  "  to  decide  that  I  shall  oppose  the  con- 
stitution without  doors ;  I  mean  only  to  keep  myself 
free  to  be  governed  by  my  duty,  as  it  shall  be  pre- 
scribed by  my  future  judgment."  * 

"  I,  too,  had  objections,"  said  Gouverneur  Moms ; 
"but  considering  the  present  plan  the  best  that  can 
be  obtained,  I  shall  take  it  with  all  its  faults.  The 
moment  it  goes  forth,  the  great  question  will  be : 
'  Shall  there  be  a  national  government,  or  a  general 
anarchy  ? ' " 

"  I  am  anxious,"  said  Hamilton,  "  that  every  mem- 
ber should  sign.     A  few  by  refusing  may  do  infinite 

>  Gilpin,  I.-jOO;  Elliot,  555.  '  Gilynn,  IGOO;  Elliot,  556. 

"  Gilpin,  lyO'J,  1000;  Elliot,  555,  *  Ibid. 

550. 


THE    LAST   DAYS    OF   THE    CONVENTION.  221 

miscliief.     No  man's  ideas  are  more  remote  from  the  ceap. 
plan  tlian  my  own  are  known  to  be ;  but  is  it  possible 
to  deliberate  between  anarchy  and  convulsion  on  the 
one  side,  and  the  chance  of  good  to  be  expected  from 
the  plan  on  the  other  ? " ' 

"  I,"  said  Gerry,  "  fear  a  civil  war.  In  Massachu- 
setts there  are  two  parties :  one  devoted  to  democra- 
cy, the  worst,  I  think,  of  all  political  evils ;  the  other 
as  violent  in  the  opposite  extreme.  From  the  colli- 
sion of  these,  confusion  is  greatly  to  be  feared." 

"  I  shall  sign  the  constitution  with  a  view  to  sup- 
port it  with  all  my  influence,"  said  Cotesworth  Pinck- 
ney,  "  and  I  wish  to  pledge  myself  accordingly." "" 
Jared  Ingersoll,  of  Pennsylvania,  considered  the  sign- 
ing as  a  recommendation  of  what,  all  things  con- 
sidered, was  the  most  eligible. 

The  form  proposed  by  Franklin  was  accepted  mth 
no  dissent,  except  that  South  Carolina  was  impatient 
at  its  want  of  an  affirmative  expression  of  unhesitat- 
ing approval.  The  journals  and  papers  of  the  con- 
vention were  confided  to  the  care  of  the  president, 
subject  to  the  order  of  the  new  government  when  it 
should  be  formed."  Plamilton,  in  a  bold,  plain  hand, 
successively  inscribed  on  the  great  sheet  of  parch- 
ment the  name  of  each  state,  as  the  delegations  one 
after  the  other  came  forward  in  geographical  order 
and  signed  the  constitution.  When  it  appeared  that 
the  unanimous  consent  of  all  the  eleven  states  pres- 
ent in  convention  was  recorded  in  its  favor,  Franklin, 
looking  toward  a  sun  which  was  blazoned  on  the 

»  Gilpin,  1601 ;  Elliot,  556.  ^  Gilpin,  1605 ;  Elliot,  558. 

*  Gilpin,  1603, 1604;  Elliot,  558. 


222  THE   FEDEEAL    COTfVENTIOIT. 

CHAP,  president's  chair,  said  of  it  to  tliose  near  Mm :  "  In 
^-^^.^^  the  vicissitudes  of  hope  and  fear  I  was  not  able  to 
^  J  ^  '^-  tell  whether  it  is  risino;  or  setting; ;  now  I  know  that 

Sept.     ^     ^  ,   .  '^  °  ' 

17.     it  is  the  rising  sun." ' 

The  members  were  awe-struck  at  the  result  of  their 
councils ;  the  constitution  was  a  nobler  work  than 
any  one  of  them  had  believed  it  possible  to  devise. 
They  all  on  that  day  dined  together,  and  took  a  cor- 
dial leave  of  each  other.  Washington  at  an  early 
hour  of  the  evening  retii^ed  "  to  meditate  on  the  mo- 
mentous work  which  had  been  executed.'" 

»  Gilpin,  1634 ;  Elliot,  565.  ^  Diary  of  Washington  for  the  day. 


BOOK     I  Y. 

THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  STATES  IN  JUDGMENT 
ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

1787-1788. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  CONSTITUTION  IN  CONGRESS  AND  IN  VIRGINIA. 

September  to  Noyembee,  1787. 


") 


On   the    twentietli   of    September,   tlie  letter  of  chap. 
Wasliington,  as  president  of  tlie  convention,  to  tlie  — .^^ 
president  of  congress,  tlie  full  text  of  tlie  proposed  ^g^^^' 
constitution,  and  tlie  order  of  tlie  convention,  were     20. 
laid  before  congress,  and  on  tlie  next  day  appeared     21. 
in  tlie  daily  papers  of  New  York.    Tlie  letter  plainly 
said :  The  powers  necessary  to  be  vested  in  "  the  gen- 
eral government  of  the  union "  are  too  extensive  to 
be  delegated  to  "  one  body  of  men."     "  It  is  imprac- 
ticable, in  the  federal  government  of  these  states,  to 
secure  all  rights  of  independent  sovereignty  to  each, 
and  yet  provide  for  the  interest  and  safety  of  all ;  it 
is  difficult  to  draw  with  precision  the  line  between 
those  rights  which  must  be  surrendered  and  those 
which  may  be  reserved ;  on  the  present  occasion  this 
difficulty  was  increased  by  a  difference  among  the 
several  states  as  to  their  situation,  extent,  habits,  and 
particular  interests. 

"  We  kept  steadily  in  view  the  consolidation  of  our 

VOL.  II,  15 


226      THE  PEOPLE  nf  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  union,  in  wliicli  is  involved  our  prosperity,  felicity, 
.--^  safety,  perhaps  our  national  existence.     And  tlius  tlie 
^Sc^t'^"  constitution  wMch  we  now  present  is  the  result  of  tliat 
21.     mutual  deference  and  concession,  wMcli  the  peculiar- 
ity of  our  political  situation  rendered  indispensable." ' 
The    constitution   instantly   met   with   opposition 
fi'om  the  indefatigable  Richard  Henry  Lee,"  support- 
ed by  Nathan  Dane'  and  all  the  delegates  from  New 
York,  of  whom  Melancthon  Smith  was  the  ablest. 
Till  Madison  returned,  the  delegates  from  Vii'ginia 
were  equally  divided,  Grayson  opposing  the  govern- 
ment because  it  was  too  feeble,  and  Lee  because  it 
was  too  strong.*    Already  the  New  York  faction  was 
actively  scattering  the  seeds  of  opposition,  and  Ham- 
ilton dauntlessly  opposing  them  in  the  public  papers 
by  arguments  for  union.^ 

It  was  only  out  of  the  ashes  of  the  confederation 
•that  the  new  constitution  could  sj^ring  into  being; 
and  the  letter  of  the  convention  did  indeed  invite 
congress  to  light  its  o^vn  funeral  pyre.  On  the 
26.  twenty-sixth  it  was  first  contended  that  congress 
could  not  properly  give  any  positive  countenance  to 
a  measure  subversive  of  the  confederation  to  which 
they  owed  their  existence.  To  this  it  was  answered, 
that  in  February  congress  itself  had  recommended 
the  convention  as  "the  most  probable  means  of  estab- 
lishing a  film  national  government,"  and  that  it  was 
not  now  more  restrained  from  acceding  to  the  new 
plan  than  the  convention  from  proposing  it.     If  the 

*  New  York  Daily  Advertiser,  20  =  Gilpin,  643,050;  Elliot,  560, 508. 

and   21    Se])t.,    1787;    New   York  *  Carrington    to    Jefferson,     23 

Packet,  21  Sept.,  17H7.  Oct.,  1787.     MS. 

"  Carriiifrtou   to   Madison,    Sun-  '  Carringtou    to     Madison,     23 

day,  23  Sept.,  1787.     MS.  Sept.,  1787. 


THE    CONSTITUTION    IN    CONGEESS.  227 

plan  was  within  tlie  powers  of  the  convention,  it  was  chap. 
within  those  of  congress ;  if  beyond  those  powers,  the  .^^^ 
necessity  which  Justified  the  one  wonld  justify  the  ^^^Y' 
other ;  and  the  necessity  existed  if  any  faith  was  due     26. 
to  the  representations  of  congress  themselves,  con- 
firmed by  twelve  states  in  the  union  and  by  the  gen- 
eral voice  of  the  people. 

Lee  next  attempted  to  amend  the  act  of  the  con- 
vention before  it  should  go  forth  from  congress  to 
the  people.  "  Where,"  said  he,  "  is  the  contract  be- 
tween the  nation  and  the  government  ?  The  consti- 
tution makes  no  mention  but  of  those  who  govern, 
and  never  speaks  of  the  rights  of  the  people  who  are 
governed."^  He  wished  to  qualify  the  immense 
power  of  the  government  by  a  bill  of  rights,  which 
had  always  been  regarded  as  the  palladium  of  a  free 
people.  The  bill  of  rights  was  to  relate  to  the  rights 
of  conscience,  the  fi'eedom  of  the  press,  the  trial  by 
jury  in  civil  cases  as  well  as  criminal,  the  prohibition 
of  standing  armies,  freedom  of  elections,  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  judges,  security  against  excessive 
bail,  fines,  or  punishments,  against  unreasonable 
searches  or  seizure  of  persons,  houses,  papers,  or 
property;  and  the  right  of  petition.  He  further 
proposed  amendments  to  the  constitution ;  a  council 
of  state  or  privy  council,  to  be  joined  with  the  presi- 
dent in  the  appointment  of  all  officers,  so  as  to  pre- 
vent the  blending  of  legislative  and  executive  powers; 
no  vice-president ;  an  increase  of  the  number  of  the 
representatives ;  and  the  requisition  of  more  than  a 
majority  to  make  commercial  regulations. 

'  Minister  Otto  to  Count  Montmorin,  New  York,  23  Oct.,  1787. 


228      THE  PEOPLE  EST  JUDGEMENT  ON  THE  C0:N"STITUTI0N'. 

CHAP.  The  restraint  on  tlie  power  of  regulating  commerce 
v--,!^  and  navigation  would  have  been  fatal  to  the  wealth 
^^  ^  '^-  and  prosperity  of  New  York.    Nevertheless,  the  prop- 

26.  ositions  of  Lee  were  supported  by  Melancthon  Smith, 
who  insisted  that  congress  had  the  undoubted  right 
and  the  duty  to  amend  the  plan  of  the  federal  con- 
stitution, in  which  the  essential  safeguards  of  liberty 
had  been  omitted.  To  this  it  was  replied  that  con- 
gress had  certainly  a  right  of  its  own  to  2^1'opose 
amendments,  but  that  these  must  be  addressed  to  the 
legislatures  of  the  states,  and  would  require  ratifica- 
tion by  all  the  thirteen ;  but  that  the  act  of  the  fed- 
eral convention  was  to  be  addressed  to  conventions 
of  the  several  states,  of  which  any  nine  might  adopt 
it  for  themselves.  So  the  first  day's  debate  ended 
without  admitting  the  proposed  amendments  to  con- 
sideration.* 

27.  The  next  day  Lee,  seconded  by  Smith,  offered  a 
resolution  that  congress  had  no  power  whatever  to 
assist*  in  creating  a  "new  confederacy  of  nine" 
states ;  and  therefore  he  would  do  no  more  than,  as  a 
mark  of  resj)ect,  forward  the  acts  of  the  convention 
to  the  executives  of  every  state  to  be  laid  before 
their  respective  legislatures.  On  the  instant  Abra- 
ham Clarke,  of  New  Jersey,  seconded  by  Nathaniel 
Mitchell,  of  Delaware,  proposed  to  add :  "  In  order  to 
be  by  them  submitted  to  conventions  of  delegates  to 
be  chosen  agreeably  to  the  said  resolutions  of  the 
convention."  On  the  question,  Georgia  and  the  two 
Carolinas  voted   unjinimously  against   Lee ;   so   did 

*  Madison  to  Washington,  Now     Oct.,  1787;  Life  of  R.  11.  Lee,  ii. 
York,  80  S(;i)t.,  17«7;   K.  U.   Lee     74,  76. 
to  Samuel  Adams,  New  York,  5        '■'  Gilpin,  643;  Elliot,  566. 


THE    CONSTITUTION   IN    CONGEESS.  229 

Delaware  and  the  only  member  from  Maryland,  witli  chap. 

Pennsylvania,   New  Jersey,   Connecticut,   Massacliu-  A— 

setts,  New  Hampshire.  Virginia,  on  the  return  of  ^^J^*^- 
Madison,  joined  them  by  the  inflexible  majority  of  27. 
Madison,  Carrington,  and  Henry  Lee,  against  Gray- 
son and  Richard  Henry  Lee.  All  the  states  except 
New  York  were  for  the  motion  ;  and  all  except  New 
York  and  Virginia  w^ere  unanimously  so.  The  ma- 
jority in  congress  was  impatient  to  express  its  ap- 
proval of  the  acts  of  the  convention  in  still  stronger 
language ;  Carrington,  of  Virginia,  therefore,  second- 
ed by  Bingham,  of  Pennsylvania,  proposed  that  it  be 
recommended  to  the  legislatures  of  the  several  states 
to  cause  conventions  to  be  held  as  speedily  as  may 
be,  to  the  end  that  the  same  may  be  adopted,  ratified, 
and  confirmed.' 

In  this  stage  of  the  business  congress  adjourned. 
The  friends  of  the  new  constitution  desired  to  send 
it  to  the  states  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  congress. 
The  members  from  New  York  would  not  consent  to 
any  language  that  implied  approval.  To  win  their 
vote  the  resolution  of  congress  must  be  neutral.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  idea  of  unanimity  required  the 
eif acement  of  every  motion  adverse  to  the  reference  of 
the  constitution.  Accordingly,  congress,  when  it  next 
assembled,  expunged  from  its  journal  the  j^roposed 
amendments  of  Richard  Henry  Lee,  and  the  vote  of 
the  preceding  day;'  and  having  obliterated  every 
record  of  opposition,  it  resolved  on  the  twenty-eighth  28. 
unanimously,  eleven  states  being  present,  Maryland 

^  MS.  Journals   of   Congress  in        '  MS.  Journals  of  Congress. 
State  Department. 


230      THE  PEOPLE  IN  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  having  one  delegate,  Rliode  Island  being  alone  alto- 
v---,!^  getlier  unrepresented,  that  tlie  said  report,  with  the 
i^^''-  resolutions  and  letter  accompanying  the  same,  be 
23.  transmitted  to  the  several  legislatures,  in  order  to  be 
submitted  to  a  convention  of  delegates  chosen  in  each 
state  by  the  people  thereof  in  conformity  to  the  re- 
solves of  the  convention/ 
Oct.  Baffled  within  the  convention,  Richard  Henry  Lee 
appealed  to  the  world  through  the  press  in  a  series  of 
"Letters  from  the  Federal  Farmer,"  of  which  many 
thousand  copies  were  scattered  through  the  central 
states.  He  acknowledged  the  necessity  of  reforming 
the  government,  but  claimed  to  discern  a  strong  ten- 
dency to  aristocracy  in  every  part  of  the  proposed 
constitution,  which  he  slighted  as  the  work  of  vision- 
ary young  men,"*  w^ho  mshed  to  change  the  thirteen 
distinct  independent  republics  under  a  federal  head 
into  one  consolidated  government."  He  waylaid  Ger- 
ry when  bound  for  home,  and  assisted  him  in  prepar- 
ing an  official  letter  to  explain  his  refusal  to  sign  the 
constitution.  He  addi-essed  himseK  to  Samuel  Adams, 
the  "  dear  friend  with  whom  he  had  long  toiled  in  the 
vineyard  of  liberty,"  submitting  to  his  wisdom  and 
j)atriotism  the  ol^jections  to  the  new  constitution 
which  he  had  proposed  in  congress  in  the  form  of 
amendments,  but  disingenuously  substituting  other 
words  for  his  remonstrance  aG:ainst  vestins;  cono^ress 
with  power  to  regulate  commerce.  He  extended  his 
intrigues  to  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware,  hoping  to 
delay  their  decisions. 

'  Journals  of  Conprosn,  iv.  782.  '  Letters  from  the  Federal  Farm- 

'  Letters  from  the  Federal  Farm-    er,  6. 
or,  8. 


THE    CONSTITUTION   IN   VIRGINIA.  231 

"  I  am  waiting  witli  anxiety  for  tlie  eclio  from  Vir-  chap. 
ginia,  but  witli  very  faint  hopes  of  its  coiTesponding 
with  my  wishes,"  wrote  Madison  from  New  York 
city  to  Washington/  The  party  in  power  in  New 
York  was  passionately  opposed  to  the  constitution ; 
but  abeady  day  had  begun  to  scatter  the  dusk  of 
earliest  morning. 

In  the  first  moment  after  his  return  to  Mount 
Vernon,  Washington  sent  a  copy  of  the  constitution 
to  Patrick  Henry,"  to  Harrison,  and  to  Nelson,  each 
of  whom  had  been  governor  of  Virginia.  In  a  pro- 
pitiatory letter  he  appealed  to  their  experience  of 
the  difficulties  which  had  ever  arisen  in  attempts  to 
reconcile  the  interests  and  local  prejudices  of  the  sev- 
eral states.  "I  wish,"  he  continued,  "the  constitu- 
tion which  is  offered  had  been  more  perfect;  but  it 
is  the  best  that  could  be  obtained  at  this  time,  and  a 
door  is  opened  for  amendments  hereafter.  The  po- 
litical concerns  of  this  country  are  suspended  by  a 
thread.  The  convention  has  been  looked  up  to  by 
the  reflecting  part  of  the  community  with  a  solicitude 
which  is  hardly  to  be  conceived ;  and  if  nothing  had 
been  agreed  on  by  that  body,  anarchy  would  soon 
have  ensued,  the  seeds  being  deeply  sown  in  every 
soil." 

A  visitor  at  Mount  Vernon,  just  after  this  letter 
was  sent  out,  wiites  of  Washington :  "  He  is  in  per- 
fect health,  and  looks  almost  as  well  as  he  did  twenty 
years  ago.  I  never  in  my  life  saw  him  so  keen  for 
anything  as  he  is  for  the  adoption  of  the  new  form 

*  Madison  to  Washington.     Gil-        "  Washington  to  Henry,  24  Sept., 
pin,  646;  Elliot,  567.  1787.     Sparks,  ix.  265. 


232      THE  PEOPLE  LN  JUDGMENT  ON  TIIE  CONSTITUTION". 

CHAP,  of  govemment."  '     Througliout  tlie  wliole  country  lie 
— ^  Tras  the  centre  of  interest;   in  Virginia  of  power. 
1  Ysv.  'pjie  leaders  of  opposition  answered  him  frankly,  but 
mth  expressions  of  deference  and  affection. 

"  The  seeds  of  civil  discord,"  replied  Hamson,  "  are 
plentifully  sown  in  very  many  of  the  powers  given 
both  to  the  president  and  congress.  If  the  constitu- 
tion is  carried  into  effect,  the  states  south  of  the 
Potomac  will  be  little  more  than  appendages  to  those 
to  the  northward  of  it.  My  objections  chiefly  lie 
against  the  unlimited  powers  of  taxation,  the  regula- 
tion of  trade,  and  the  jurisdictions  that  are  to  be 
established  in  every  state  altogether  independent  of 
their  laws.  The  sword  and  such  powers  will,  nay, 
must,  sooner  or  later  establish  a  tyranny."  * 

Avowing  very  sincerely  "  the  highest  reverence  " 
for  Washington,  Patrick  Henry  answered  vaguely  but 
positively ;  "  I  cannot  bring  my  mind  to  comply  with 
the  proposed  constitution."  ^ 

George  Mason,  who  had  rendered  the  highest  and 
vnsest  service  in  shaping  the  constitution,  now  from 
wounded  pride  resisted  his  inmost  convictions,  enu- 
merating his  objections,  of  which  the  grant  to  con- 
gress of  power  to  regulate  commerce  by  a  bare  ma- 
jority was  the  capital  one.* 

Next  came  a  letter  from  Richard  Henry  Lee,  who 
avowed  himself  "  compelled  by  uTesistible  conviction 
of  mind  after  long  reflection  to  doubt  about  the  new 
system  for  federal  government,"  and  to  express  the 

'  A.    Donald    to    Jefferson,    13        "  S])arks,  ix.  2CG.     Note. 
Nov.,  1787.     MS.  *  Geor^jc  Mason  to  Washington, 

»  Sparks,  ix.  206,  267.     Note.         7  Oct.,  1787.  Sparks,  ix.  267,^268. 

Note. 


THE    CONSTITUTION    EST   VIRGINIA.  233 

wish  "  that  such  amendments  as  would  give  security  chap. 

to  the  rio;hts  of  human  nature  and  the  discordant  in-  1^ 

terests  of  the  different  parts  of  this  union  mio;ht  em-  1 7  s  7. 

.        „  ^  Oct. 

ploy  another  convention.   ' 

But  the  influence  of  Washington  outweighed  them 
all.  He  was  embosomed  in  the  affections  and  en- 
shrined in  the  pride  of  the  people  of  Virginia ;  and 
in  all  their  waverino;s  during;  the  nine  months  follow- 
ing  the  federal  convention  he  was  the  anchor  of  the 
constitution.  His  neighbors  of  Alexandria  to  a  man 
agreed  with  him ;  and  Fairfax  county  unanimously 
instructed  its  representatives,  of  whom  George  Mason 
was  one,  "  that  the  peace,  security,  and  prosperity  of 
Vii'ginia  and  of  the  United  States  depended  on  the 
speedy  adoption  of  the  federal  constitution." ' 

In  the  close  division  of  parties  in  the  state  it  was 
of  vital  imj^ortance  to  secure  the  influence  of  Edmund 
Randolph,  its  governor ;  and  his  old  military  chief  in 
due  time  received  from  him  an  elaborate  paper  which 
he  had  prepared  in  the  form  of  an  address  to  the 
speaker  of  the  house  of  delegates.  In  this  letter,  not 
yet  pledging  himself  to  the  unconditional  support  of 
the  constitution,  he  avowed  that  he  prized  the  inti- 
mate and  unshaken  friendship  of  Washington  and 
Madison  as  among  the  happiest  of  all  his  acquisi- 
tions ;  but  added ;  "  Dreadful  as  the  total  dissolution 
of  the  union  is  to  my  mind,  I  entertain  no  less  horror 
at  the  thought  of  partial  confederacies.  The  utmost 
limit  of  any  partial  confederacy,  which  Virginia  could 
expect  to  form,  would  comprehend  the  three  south- 

*  E.  H.  Lee  to  Washington,  New  ^  Meeting  of  Fairfax  county, 
York,  11  Oct.,  1787.  Letters  to  Tiiesdav,  2  Oct.,  1787.  Carey's 
W.,  iv.  180,  181.  Museum,  ii.  392,  393. 


234      THE  PEOPLE  EST  JUDG3IENT  ON  TIIE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  ern  and  lier  nearest  northern  neighbor.     But  they, 
v--^  like    ourselves,  are   diminished   in   their   real   force 
^Oc^t*^'  ^^  ^^^  mixture  of  an  unhappy  species  of  popula- 
tion." ' 

Monroe  ^vrote  to  Madison  that  his  "  strong  objec- 
tions "  to  the  constitution  "  were  overbalanced  by  the 
arguments  in  its  favor."  ^ 

The  legislature  of  Virginia  was  to  hold  its  reg- 
ular meeting  on  the  third  Monday  of  October ; 
tliis  year  there  was  a  quorum  on  the  fii'st  day  of 
the  session,  which  had  not  happened  since  the  revo- 
lution. 
19.  On  the  nineteenth,  the  vote  of  congress  transmit- 
ting the  constitution  came  before  the  house ;  Patrick 
Henry,  refusing  to  make  an  issue  where  he  would 
have  met  with  defeat,  declared  that  the  constitution 
must  go  before  a  convention,  as  it  transcended  the 
power  of  the  house  to  decide  on  it.' 
25.  But  when,  on  the  twenty-fifth,  Francis  Corbin  pro- 
posed "a  convention  to  be  called  according  to  the 
recommendation  of  congress,"  Henry  objected  that 
under  that  limitation  its  members  "  would  have  pow- 
er to  adopt  or  reject  the  new  plan,  but  not  to  propose 
amendments "  of  its  "  errors  and  defects."  His  mo- 
tion to  give  this  power  to  the  convention  of  the  state 
was  seconded  by  Mason,  who  added :  "  I  declare  that 
from  the  east  of  New  Hampshire  to  the  south  of 
Georgia  tliere  is  not  a  man  more  fully  convinced  of 
the  necessity  of  establishing  some  general  govern- 

*  Edmund     Ilandoljih     to     tlic  '  Monroe  to  Madison,   13  Oct., 

Bpcakcr  of  tlio  lioiise  of  dcl('<:(ate3  1787.  MS. 

of  Virginia,  10  Oct.,  1787.    Elliot,  "  Buslirod  Washington  to  G.  W., 

i.  487.  19  Oct.,  1787.     Sparks,  ix.  273. 


THE'  CONSTITUTION   EST   VIRGINIA.  235 

ment  than  I  am ;  that  I  regard  our  perfect  union  as  chap. 
the  rock  of  our  political  salvation." ' 

After  some  debate,  John  Marshall,  of  Hichmond, 
conceding  the  point  as  to  "  leaving  the  door  open  for 
amendments,""  pleaded  that  the  legislatui^e  should  not 
seem  to  disapprove  the  new  federal  government,  and, 
for  the  form  of  the  resolution,  proposed  that  "the 
new  constitution  should  be  laid  before  the  convention 
for  their  fi'ee  and  ample  discussion." '  This  form  was 
silently  accepted  by  Henry,  while  Mason  declared 
"  that  the  house  had  no  right  to  suggest  anything  to 
a  body  paramount  to  itself."  The  vote  was  unani- 
mous, the  form  of  the  resolution  being  that  of  ]\Iar- 
shall ;  while  in  its  substance  it  yielded  up  all  that 
Henry  and  Mason  required.*  From  "  unfriendly  in- 
tentions toward  the  constitution," '  the  choice  of  the 
convention  was  postponed  till  the  court  days  in 
March,  and  its  time  of  meeting  to  the  first  Monday  in 
June.  Should  many  of  the  states  then  be  found 
against  the  constitution,  Vii'ginia  could  assume  the 
office  of  mediator  between  contending  parties,  and 
dictate  to  all  the  rest  of  the  union." 

Since  amendments  had  been  unanimously  author- 
ized, it  seemed  fair  that  any  expense  of  an  attempt 
to  make  them  should  be  provided  for  with  the  other 

'  Eeport  of  Debate  in  Packet,  ^  Edward  Carrington  to  T.  Jef- 

10  Nov.,  1787.  ferson,    10  Nov.,   1787.     Bushrod 

^  Madison,  i.  363,  364.  Washington    was     inexperienced, 

'  Report    of    the   Debate    from  and  at  first  judged  the  disposition 

Penn.  Packet,  10  Nov.,  1787.  of  the  legislature  too  favorably  ; 

*  Compare  George  Mason  to  G.  Carrington  had  keeuer-eyed  corre- 

W.,  6  Nov.,  1787,  in  Letters  to  G.  spondents. 

W.,  iv.  190.  Report  of  Debates  in  ''Monroe  to  Madison,  7  Feb., 
Penn.  Packet,  10  Nov.,  1787.  1788.  MS.  Carrington  to  Madi- 
Bushrod  Washington  in  Sparks,  son,  18  Jan.,  1788.  MS.  Wash- 
is.  287.  ington  to  Carter,  14  Dec,  1787. 


236      THE  PEOPLE  IIST  JUDGJIENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION 

CHAP,  cliaro-es  of  tlie  convention.'     A  letter  from  Eicliard 

I. 
— 'r —  Henry  Lee,  a  representative  from  Virginia  in  con- 

^o«'^'  S^^^^j  ^*^  ^^  governor  of  tlie  commonwealth,  recom- 
25.  mended,  as  a  policy  open  to  "  no  objection  and  prom- 
ising great  safety  and  mncli  good," ""  that  amendments 
adopted  severally  by  the  states  should  all  be  defini- 
tively referred  to  a  second  federal  convention. 
^^^'  To  carry  out  this  policy,  resolutions  were  on  the 
last  day  of  November  introduced  into  the  house,  and 
supported  by  Henry  and  Mason,  pledging  the  general 
assembly  to  defray  the  expense  of  a  deputy  or  depu- 
ties which  the  convention  of  the  commonwealth  in 
the  following  June  might  think  proper  to  send  to 
confer  with  a  convention  of  any  one  or  more  of  the 
sister  states,  "  as  well  as  the  allowance  to  be  made  to 
the  deputies  to  a  federal  convention,  in  case  such  a 
convention  should  be  judged  necessary."  The  friends 
of  the  constitution,  who  now  perceived  the  direction 
in  which  they  were  drifting,  made  a  rally ;  but  they 
Dec.  were  beaten  by  a  majority  of  about  fifteen.  A  bill 
pursuant  to  the  resolutions,  reported  by  a  committee 
composed  mainly  of  the  most  determined  "malcon- 
12.  tents,"  soon  became  a  law."  Friends  of  the  consti- 
tution who  had  been  jubilant  at  the  first  aspect  of 
the  legislature  now  doubted  whether  it  any  longer 
had  a  majority  in  its  favor ;  its  enemies  claimed  a  de- 
cisive victory.  Early  in  December,  Monroe  reported 
to  Madison :  "  The  cloud  which  hath  hung  over  us 
for  some  time  past  is  not  likely  soon  to  be  dispelled."  * 
But  on  AVashington's  mind  no  cloud  rested.     "  If 

'  Sparks,  ix.  287.  '  Ilening,  xii.  4G3. 

«  Lee's  Life,  ii.  81 ;  Elliot,  i.  505.        *  Monroe  to  Madison,  6  Dec.  MS. 


THE    CONSTITUTION   IN   VIRGINLl.  237 

there  are  characters  who  prefer  disunion,  or  separate  chap. 
confederacies,  to  the  general  government  which   is  ^^^-^-^ 
offered  to  them,  their  opposition  may,  for  aught  I  ^^^'^• 
know,  proceed  from  principle ;  but,  as  nothing,  ac-     3o. 
cording  to  my  conception  of  the  matter,  is  more  to 
be  deprecated  than  a  disunion  or  three  distinct  con- 
federacies, as  far  as  my  voice  can  go  it  shall  be  offered 
in  favor  of  the  general  government."  *     Nor  did  he 
lose  heart  or  trust ;  but  as  Vii'ginia  has  delayed  her 
convention  till  June,  our  narrative  must  turn  to  the 
state  which  was  the  first  to  meet  in  convention. 

*  In  Sparks,  ix.  284,  for  ' '  tliese  distinct  confederacies  "  read  ' '  three 
distinct  confederacies." 


CHAPTEE  II. 

THE   COXSTITUTION  IN    PENNSYLVANIA,    DELAWARE, 
AND   NEW  JERSEY  ;   AND   IN  GEORGIA. 

From  IS  Septembee,  1787,  to  2  Januaey,  1788. 

CHAP.       OuE  happy  tlieme  leads  from  one  great  act  of  uni- 

.^,-1^  versal  interest  to  another.     A  new  era  in  tlie  life  of 

^Sept"^'  ^^®  ^^'^^  begins:    a  people  select  their  delegates  to 

state  conventions  to  pronounce  their  judgment  on 

the  creation  of  a  federal  republic. 

One  more  great  duty  to  his  fellow-citizens  and  to 
mankind  is  to  be  fulfilled  by  Franklin;  one  more 
honor  to  be  won  by  Philadelphia  as  the  home  of 
union  ;  one  new  victory  by  Pennsylvania  as  the  cita- 
del of  the  love  of  the  one  indivisible  country.  That 
mighty  border  commonwealth,  extending  its  line  from 
Delaware  bay  to  the  Ohio,  and  holding  convenient 
passes  through  the  Alleghanies,  would  not  abandon 
the  South,  nor  the  West,  nor  the  North ;  she  would 
not  hear  of  triple  confederacies  nor  of  twin  confedera- 
cies ;  but  only  of  one  government  embracing  all.  Its 
people  in  their  multifarious  congruity  had  nothing  ad- 
verse to  union ;  the  faithful  of  the  proprietary  party 


THE    CONSTITUTION   IN   PENNSYLVANIA.  239 

were  zealous  for  a  true  general  government ;  so  too  chap. 
was  every  man  in  public  life  of  the  peoj^le  called  v^^ 
Quakers ;  *  so  was  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  ^^  ^  '^• 
Germans ; '  so  were  the  Baptists,  as  indeed  their  syn- 
od authoritatively  avowed  for  every  state.     The  per- 
fect liberty  of  conscience  prevented  religious  differ- 
ences from  interfering  with  zeal  for  a  closer  union. 

In  the  first  period  of  the  confederacy,  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Philadelphia  did  not  extend  their  plans  for 
its  reform  beyond  the  increase  of  its  powers;  but 
after  the  flight  of  congress  fi'om  their  city,  they  be- 
gan to  say  to  one  another  that  "it  would  be  more 
easy  to  build  a  new  ship  of  state  than  to  repair  the 
old  one ; "  that  there  was  need  of  a  new  constitution 
with  a  legislature  in  two  branches.  Merchants,  bank- 
ers, holders  of  the  national  debt,  the  army  officers, 
found  no  party  organized  against  this  opinion ;  Dick- 
inson was  magnanimous  enough  to  become  dissatis- 
fied with  the  confederation  which  he  had  greatly 
assisted  to  fi'ame;  and  he  and  Mifflin  and  McKean 
and  George  Clymer  and  Rush  manifested  no  opposi- 
tion to  the  policy  of  Wilson,  Robert  Morris,  Gouver- 
neur  Morris,  and  Fitzsimons ;  although  remoter  coun- 
ties, and  especially  the  backwoodsmen  on  each  side 
of  the  mountains,  loved  their  wild  personal  liberty 
too  dearly  to  welcome  a  new  supreme  control. 

At  eleven  in  the  morning  of -the  eighteenth,  Benja-     is. 
min  Franklin,  then  president  of  Pennsylvania,  more 
than  fourscore  years  of  age,  fulfilling  his  last  great 
public  service,  was  ushered  into  the  hall  of  the  as- 

*  Independent  Gazetteer,  15  Jan.,  ^  Independent  Gazetteer. 

1788. 


240      THE  PEOPLE  EST  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  sembly,  followed  by  liis  seven  colleagues  of  the  con- 
v—- ^-^  vention.     After  expressing  in  a  sliort  address  their 
1Y8  7.  hope  and  belief  that  the  measure  recommended  by 
IS.     that  body  would  produce  happy  effects  to  the  com- 
monwealth of  Pennsylvania  as  well  as  to  every  other 
of  the  United  States,  he  presented  the  constitution 
and  accompanying  papers. 

For  the  next  ten  days  the  house,  not  willing  to 
forestall  the  action  of  congress,  confined  itself  to  its 
usual  business  ;  but  as  it  had  resolved  to  adjourn  sine 
die  on  Saturday,  the  twenty-ninth,  Clymer,  on  the 
28.  morning  of  the  last  day  but  one  of  the  session,  pro- 
posed to  refer  the  acts  of  the  federal  convention  to  a 
convention  of  the  state.  That  there  might  be  time  for 
reflection,  Eobert  Whitehill,  of  Carlisle,  on  behalf  of 
the  minority,  requested  the  postponement  of  the  ques- 
tion at  least  until  the  afternoon.  This  was  conceded ; 
but  in  the  afternoon  the  minority,  nineteen  in  num- 
ber, did  not  attend,  and  refused  to  obey  the  summons 
of  the  speaker  delivered  by  the  sergeant-at-arms,  so 
that  no  quorum  could  be  made.  This  factious  seces- 
sion so  enraged  the  inhabitants  that  eai'ly  the  next 
morning  a  body  of  "  respectable  men  "  made  a  search 
for  the  delincjuents ;  and  finding  two  of  them,  just 
sufficient  to  foiTn  a  house,  dragged  them  into  the  as- 
sembly, where,  in  spite  of  their  protests,  they  were 
compelled  to  stay.  Meantime  a  fleet  messenger,  sent 
from  New  York  by  William  Bingham,  a  delegate  in 
congress  from  Pennsylvania,  arrived  with  an  authen- 
tic copy  of  a  resolution  of  congress  of  the  preceding 
day,  unanimously  recommending  the  l^eference  of  the 
constitution  to  conventions  of  the  several  states  ;  and 


THE    CONSTITUTIOlSr   IN   PENNSYLVANIA.  241 

witliin  twenty  hours '  fi'om  the  adoption  of  the  reso-  cn.vp. 
lution,  the  Pennsylvania  assembly  called  a  convention  v--v^ 
of  the  state  for  the  third  Tuesday  in  November."  i^^*^- 
The  vote  was  received  by  the  spectators  with  three     as. 
heartfelt  cheers ;  the  bells  of  the  churches  were  rung ; 
and  signs  of  faith  in  the  speedy  return  of  prosperity 
were  everywhere  seen.     But  the  minority,  trained  in 
resistance  to  what  were  thouo;]it  to  be  aristocratic  in- 
fluences,  refused  to  be  reconciled,  and  became  the  seed 
of  a  permanent  national  party. 

Richard  Henry  Lee  had  disseminated  in  Philadel- 
phia the  objections  of  himself  and  George  Mason  to 
the  constitution ;  and  seventeen  of  the  seceding  mem- 
bers embodied  them  in  an  appeal  to  their  constitu- 
ents." But  the  cause  of  the  inflammation  in  Pennsyl- 
vania was  much  more  in  their  state  factions  than  in 
the  new  federal  system.* 

The  efforts  of  Richard  Henry  Lee  were  counter-  Oct. 
acted  in  Philadelj^hia  by  Wilson,  whom  Washington 
at  this  time  called  '^as  able,  candid,  and  honest  a 
member  as  was  in  the  convention."  On  the  sixth  of 
October,  at  a  great  meeting  in  Philadelphia,  he  held 
up  the  constitution  as  the  best  which  the  world  had 
as  yet  seen.  To  the  objection  derived  fi*om  its  want 
of  a  bill  of  rights,  he  explained  that  the  government 
of  the  United  States  was  a  limited  government,  w^hich 
had  no  powers  except  those  which  were  specially 
granted  to  it.     The  speech  was  promptly  reprinted 

^  Carey's  Museum,  vol.  ii.,Chron-  ^Washington    to    Madison,    10 

icle,  pp.  6,  7.  Oct.,  1787,  in  Letter  Book  at  State 

°  Lloyd's  Debates  of    Pennsyl-  Department, 

vania  Legislature,  p.  137.   P.  Bond  *  Madison  to  Jefferson,  19  Feb., 

to  Lord  Carmarthen,  Philadelphia,  1788,  in  Madison,  i.  377. 
29  Sept.,  1787. 

VOL.  n.  16 


242      THE  PEOPLE  US"  JUDGMENT  ON"  THE  CONSTITUTION'. 

CHAP,  in  New  York  as  a  reply  to  tlie  insinuations  of  Lee ; 

V ^-^  and  through  the  agency  of  Washington  it  was  repub- 

i^s'i'-  lishecl  in  Richmond/     But  the  explanation  of   the 
6.      want  of  a  bill  of  rights  satisfied  not  one  state. 

Great  enthusiasm  was  awakened  among  the  people 
of  Pennsylvania  in  the,  progress  of  the  election  of 
their  delegates  ;  they  rejoiced  at  the  near  consumma- 
tion of  their  hopes.  The  convention  was  called  to 
meet  on  Tuesday,  the  twentieth  of   November ;   a 

Nov.  quorum  appeared  on  the  next  day.  Before  the  week 
was  over  the  constitution  on  two  successive  days 
received  its  first  and  second  reading.  Its  fiiends, 
who  formed  a  very  large  and  resolute  majority,  were 
intensely  in  earnest,  and  would  not  brook  procras- 
tination. 
24.  On  Saturday,  the  twenty-fourth,**  Thomas  McKean, 
of  Philadelphia,,  seconded  by  John  Allison,  of  Frank- 
lin county,  offered  the  resolution  in  favor  of  ratifying 
the  constitution;  and  Wilson,  as  the  only  one  present 
who  had  been  a  member  of  the  federal  convention, 
opened  the  debate. 

"  The  United  States  exhibit  to  the  world  the  fii'st 
instance  of  a  nation  unattacked  by  external  force, 
unconvulsed  by  domestic  insurrections,  assembling 
voluntarily,  deliberating  fully,  and  deciding  calmly 
concerning  tliat  system  of  government  under  which 
they  and  their  posterity  should  live.  To  form  a  good 
system  of  government  for  a  single  city  or  an  inconsid- 
erable state  has  been  thouglit  to  require  the  strong- 

*  Sparks,  ix.  271.  in  the  same,  4  Dec.     Mr.  W.  [Wil- 

'  CorniCt  the  (lute  in  Elliot,  ii.  son]  in  a  speech  on  Sat.,  24  inst., 

417,  by  Independent  Gazette  of  29  Pa.  Packet  of  27  Nov. 

Nov.,  1787.     Especially,   Ccutiucl 


THE   CONSTITUTION   EST   PENNSYLVANIA.  243 

est  efforts  of  human  genius ;  tlie  views  of  tlie  conven-  cn^p. 
tion  were  expanded  to  a  large  portion  of  tlie  globe.      — ,^ 

"  The  difficulty  of  the  business  was  equal  to  its  ^^q/* 
magnitude.  The  United  States  contain  already  thir-  2-1. 
teen  governments  mutually  independent ;  their  soil, 
climates,  productions,  dimensions,  and  numbers  are 
different ;  in  many  instances  a  difference  and  even  an 
opposition  subsists  among  their  interests,  and  is  im- 
agined to  subsist  in  many  more.  Mutual  concessions 
and  sacrifices,  the  consequences  of  mutual  forbearance 
and  conciliation,  were  indispensably  necessary  to  the 
success  of  the  great  work. 

"The  United  States  may  adopt  any  one  of  four 
different  systems.  They  may  become  consolidated 
into  one  government  in  which  the  separate  existence 
of  the  states  shall  be  entirely  absolved.  They  may 
act  as  unconnected  states.  They  may  form  two  or 
more  confederacies.  Neither  of  these  systems  found 
advocates  in  the  late  convention.  The  remaining 
system  is  a  union  in  one  federal  republic." 

"  The  expanding  quality  of  a  government  by  which 
several  states  agree  to  become  an  assemblage  of  so- 
cieties that  constitute  a  new  society,  capable  of  in- 
creasing by  means  of  further  association,  is  peculiarly 
fitted  for  the  United  States.  But  this  form  of  gov- 
ernment left  us  almost  without  precedent  or  guide. 
Ancient  history  discloses,  and  barely  discloses,  to  our 
view  some  confederate  republics.  The  Swiss  cantons 
are  connected  only  by  alliances  ;  the  United  Nether- 
lands constitute  no  new  society  ;  from  the  Germanic 
body  little  useful  knowledge  can  be  dra^vn. 

^  Elliot,  ii.  437,  438. 


244      THE  PEOPLE  m  JUDGMEISTT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP.       "  Since  states  as  well  as  citizens  are  represented  in 
.^v^  the  constitution  before  us,  and  form  the  objects  on 
1^8  7.  wliicli  tliat  constitution  is  proposed  to  operate,  it  is 
24.     necessary  to  mention  a  kind  of  liberty  which  has  not 
yet  received  a  name.     I  shall  distinguish  it  by  the 
appellation  of  federal  liberty.     The  states  should  re- 
sign to  the  national  government  that  part,  and  that 
part  only,  of  their  political  liberty  which,  placed  in 
that  government,  will   produce   more   good   to   the 
whole  than  if  it  had  remained  in  the  several  states. 
While  they  resign  this  part  of  their  political  liberty, 
they  retain  the  free  and  generous  exercise  of  all  their 
other  faculties,  so  far  as  it  is  compatible  with  the  wel- 
fare of  the  general  and  superintending  confederacy. 

"  The  powers  of  the  federal  government  and  those 
of  the  state  governments  are  drawn  from  sources 
equally  pure.  The  principle  of  representation,  un- 
known to  the  ancients,  is  confined  to  a  narrow  corner 
of  the  British  constitution.  For  the  American  states 
were  reserved  the  glory  and  happiness  of  diffusing 
this  vital  principle  throughout  the  constituent  parts 
of  government. 

"The  convention  found  themselves  embarrassed 
with  another  diiliculty  of  peculiar  delicacy  and  im- 
portance ;  I  mean  that  of  drawing  a  proper  line  be- 
tween the  national  government  and  the  governments 
of  the  several  states.  Whatever  object  of  govern- 
ment is  confined  in  its  operation  and  effects  within 
the  bounds  of  a  particular  state  should  be  considered 
as  belonging  to  the  government  of  that  state ;  what- 
ever object  of  government  extends  in  its  operation  or 
effects  beyond  the  bounds  of  a  particular  state  should 


THE   CONSTITUTION   EST   PENNSYLVANIA.  245 

be  considered  as  belonging  to  tlie  government  of  tlie  chap. 
United  States.     To   remove   discretionary  construe-  s— ^ 
tion,  the  enumeration  of  particular  instances  in  which  ^  J-  ^  '^• 
the  application  of  the  principle  ought  to  take  place     24. 
will  be  found  to  be  safe,  unexceptionable,  and  accu- 
rate. 

"  To  control  the  power  and  conduct  of  the  legisla- 
ture by  an  overruling  constitution  limiting  and  super- 
intending the  operations  of  legislative  authority  was 
an  improvement  in  the  science  and  practice  of  gov- 
ernment reserved  to  the  American  states.  Oft  have 
I  marked  with  silent  pleasure  and  admiration  the 
force  and  prevalence  through  the  United  States  of 
the  principle  that  the  supreme  power  resides  in  the 
people,  and  that  they  never  part  with  it.  There  can 
be  no  disorder  in  the  community  but  may  here  re- 
ceive a  radical  cure.  Error  in  the  legislature  may  be 
corrected  by  the  constitution ;  error  in  the  constitu- 
tion, by  the  people.  The  streams  of  power  run  in 
different  directions,  but  they  all  originally  flow  fi'om 
one  abundant  fountain.  In  this  constitution  all  au- 
thority is  derived  from  the  people." 

Already  much  had  been  gained  for  the  friends  of 
the  constitution.  "  I  am  sensible,"  said  John  Smilie, 
of  Fayette  county,  "  of  the  expediency  of  giving  addi- 
tional strength  and  energy  to  the  federal  head."  The 
question  became  on  the  one  side  the  adoption  of  the 
constitution  as  it  came  from  the  convention ;  on  the 
other,  with  amendments.  Smilie  spoke  against  a  sys- 
tem of  precipitancy  which  would  preclude  delibera- 
tion on  questions  of  the  highest  consequence  to  the 
happiness  of  a  great  portion  of  the  globe.     "  Is  the 


246      THE  PEOPLE  IN  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  object,"  lie  asked,  "to  bring  on  a  hasty  and  total 
.^-^.i^  adoj^tion  of  tlie  constitution?     The  most  common 
i^,s7.  business  of  a  legislative  body  is  submitted  to  re- 
24.     peated   discussion    upon    different    days."      Robert 
AATiitehill,  of  Carlisle,  in  Cumberland  county,  fear- 
ing a  conveyance  to  the  federal  government  of  rights 
and  liberties  which  the  people  ought  never  to  suiTen- 
der,  asked  a  reference  to  a  committee  of  the  whole. 

26.  He  was  defeated  on  the  twenty -sixth,  by  a  vote  of 
forty-three  to  twenty-four;  but  each  member  ob- 
tained leave  to  speak  in  the  house  as  often  as  he 
pleased.  When  it  was  observed  that  the  federal  con- 
vention had  exceeded  the  powers  given  to  them  by 
their  respective  legislatures,  Wilson  answered :  "  The 
federal  convention  did  not  proceed  at  all  upon  the 
powers  given  to  them  by  the  states,  but  upon  origi- 
nal principles ;  and  having  fi^amed  a  constitution 
which  they  thought  would  promote  the  happiness  of 
their  country,  they  have  submitted  it  to  theii'  con- 
sideration, who  may  either  adopt  or  reject  it  as  they 
please."  ^ 

27.  On  the  twenty-seventh,  AVhitehill,  acting  in  con- 
cert with  the  Virginia  opposition  and  preparing  the 
way  for  entering  on  the  journals  a  final  protest 
against  the  proceedings  of  the  majority,  proposed 
that  upon  all  questions  where  the  yeas  and  nays 
were  called  any  member  might  insert  the  reason  of 
his  vote  upon  the  journal  of  the  convention.  This 
was  argued  all  the  day  long,  and  leave  was  refused 
by  a  veiy  large  majority." 

'  Independent      Gazetteer,      29        *  Independent    Gazetteer    for   3 
Nov.,  1787.  Dec.  ;    and  especially  for  7  Dec, 

1787. 


THE   CONSTITUTION   IN   PENNSYLVANIA.  247 

The  fiercest  day's  debate,  and  the  only  one  wliere  chap. 
the  decision  of  the  country  was  finally  in  favor  of  the  ^^-r^. 
minority,  took  place  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  Novem-  ^^^^'^' 
ber.  There  was  a  rising  discontent  at  the  omission  28. 
of  a  declaration  of  rights.  To  prove  that  there  was 
no  need  of  a  bill  of  rights,  "Wilson  said :  "  The  boast- 
ed Magna  Charta  of  England  derives  the  liberties  of 
the  inhabitants  of  that  kingdom  from  the  gift  and 
grant  of  the  king,  and  no  wonder  the  people  were 
anxious  to  obtain  bills  of  rights;  but  here  the  fee 
simple  remains  in  the  people ;  and  by  this  constitu- 
tion they  do  not  part  with  it.  The  preamble  to  the 
proposed  constitution,  '  We  the  people  of  the  United 
States  do  establish,'  contains  the  essence  of  all  the 
bills  of  rights  that  have  been  or  can  be  devised." 
The  defence  was  imperfect  both  in  sentiment  and  in 
public  law.  To  the  sentiment,  Smilie  answered: 
"  The  words  in  the  preamble  of  the  proposed  system, 
however  superior  they  may  be  to  the  terms  of  the 
great  charter  of  England,  must  yield  to  the  expres- 
sions in  the  Pennsylvania  bill  of  rights  and  the  mem- 
orable declaration  of  the  fourth  of  July,  1776."  As 
a  question  of  public  law,  the  answer  of  Smilie  was 
equally  conclusive :  "  It  is  not  enough  to  reserve  to 
the  people  a  right  to  alter  and  abolish  government, 
but  some  criterion  should  be  established  by  which  it 
can  easily  and  constitutionally  ascertain  how  far  the 
government  may  proceed  and  when  it  transgresses  its 
Jurisdiction."  "  A  bill  of  rights,"  interposed  McKean, 
"  though  it  can  do  no  harm,  is  an  unnecessary  instru- 
ment. The  constitutions  of  but  five  out  of  the  thir- 
teen United  States  have  bills  of  rights."     The  speaker. 


248      THE  PEOPLE  IN  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  was  ill  informed.     Soutli  Carolina  and  Georgia  had 

> ^-^  alone  declined  the  opportunity  of  establishing  a  bill 

^,T  ^  '^-  of  rio-hts ;  every  state  to  the  north  of  them  had  one 
28.  except  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut,  which  as  yet 
adhered  to  their  original  charters,  and  New  Jersey, 
which  still  adhered  to  its  government  as  established 
just  before  the  declaration  of  independence.  New 
York  had  incorporated  into  its  constitution  the  whole 
of  that  declaration. 

Wilson  asserted  that  in  the  late  convention  the  de- 
sire of  "  a  bill  of  rights  had  never  assumed  the  shape 
of  a  motion."  Here  his  memory  was  at  fault ;  but 
no  one  present  could  correct  him.  "  In  civil  govern- 
ments," he  proceeded,  "  bills  of  rights  are  useless,  nor 
can  I  conceive  whence  the  contrary  notion  has  arisen. 
Virginia  has  no  bill  of  rights."  Smilie  interrupted 
him  to  cite  the  assurance  of  George  Mason  himself 
that  Virginia  had  a  bill  of  rights ;  and  he  repeated 
the  remark  that  Mason*  had  made  in  the  conven- 
tion :  "  The  laws  of  the  general  government  are  para- 
mount to  the  laws  and  constitutions  of  the  several 
states ;  and  as  there  is  no  declaration  of  rights  in  the 
new  constitution,  the  declarations  of  rights  in  the 
constitutions  of  the  several  states  are  no  security. 
Every  stipulation  for  the  most  sacred  and  invaluable 
privileges  of  man  is  left  at  the  mercy  of  government." " 
D'c-  On  Saturday,  the  first  of  December,  William  Find- 
](^y,  the  third  leading  member  of  the  opposition,  in  a 
long  and  elaborate  argument  endeavored  to  prove 
that  the  proposed  plan  of  government  was  not  a  con- 

>  Gilnin,  l.^OO;  Elliot,  588.  the  Constitutions  by  De  La  Croix, 

'■'  Ina(;|)cn(lcnt    (Jazettoor,    Dec.     Eii^-lish  tnuislation,   ii.  386,  note. 
10,  13,  1«,  20,  24,  27.     Uevicw  of    ElliuL's  Debutes,  ii.  434-439. 


THE    COI^STITUnON   EfT   DELAWAEE.  249 

federation  of  states,  but  a  consolidation  of  govern-  chap. 
ment.  lie  insisted  that  tlie  constitution  formed  a 
contract  between  individuals  entering  into  society, 
not  a  union  of  independent  states ;  tliat  in  the  legis- 
lature it  established  the  vote  by  individuals,  not  by 
states ;  that  between  two  parties  in  the  same  com- 
munity, each  claiming  independent  sovereignty,  it 
granted  an  unlimited  right  of  internal  taxation  to  the 
federal  body,  whose  stronger  will  would  thus  be  able 
to  annihilate  the  power  of  its  weaker  rival ;  that  it 
conceded  a  right  to  regulate  and  judge  of  elections  ; 
that  it  extended  the  judicial  power  as  widely  as  the 
legislative ;  that  it  raised  the  members  of  congress 
above  their  states,  for  they  were  paid  not  by  the 
states  as  subordinate  delegates,  but  by  the  general 
government ;  and  finally,  that  it  requii'ed  an  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  federal  government,  and  thus  made 
the  allegiance  to  a  separate  sovereign  state  an  ab- 
surdity/ 

Meantime  the  zeal  of  the  majority  was  quickened 
by  news  from  "  the  Delaware  state,"  whose  people 
were  for  the  most  part  of  the  same  stock  as  the  set- 
tlers of  Pennsylvania,  and  had  grown  up  under  the 
same  proprietary.  On  the  proposal  for  the  federal 
convention  at  Philadelphia,  its  general  assembly  de- 
clared that  "  they  had  long  been  fully  convinced  of 
the  necessity  of  revising  the  federal  constitution," 
"  being  willing  and  desirous  of  co-operating  with  the 
commonwealth  of  Viro-inia  and  the  other  states  in  the 
confederation."'     Now  that  an  equality  of  vote  in 

^  Independent  Gazetteer,  6  Dec. ,  ^  Laws  of  Delaware,  page  893,  in 
1787.  edition  of  1797. 


250      THE  PEOPLE  EST  JUDGMEISTT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CH.vp.  the  senate  had  been  conceded,  the  one  single  element' 

II  .  .  . 

— -,J^  of  opposition  disappeared.     The  legislature  of  Dela- 

17  8  7.  ware  met  on  the  twenty -fourth  of  October,  and  fol- 

24.  lowing  "  the  sense  and  desire  of  great  numbers  of  the 
people  of  the  state,  signified  in  petitions  to  their  gen- 
eral assembly,"  "  adopted  speedy  measures  to  call  to- 
gether a  convention." ' 
Dec.  The  constituent  body,  which  met  at  Dover  in  the 
fii^st  week  of  December,  encountered  no  diiSculty  but 
how  to  find  language  strong  enough  to  express  their 

6.  joy  in  what  had  been  done.  On  the  sixth  "  the 
deputies  of  the  people  of  the  Delaware  state,  fully, 
freely,  and  entirely  approved  of,  assented  to,  ratified, 
and  confirmed  the  federal  constitution,"  to  which  they 

*?•     all  on  the  next  day  subscribed  their  names.^ 

When  it  became  known  that  Delaware  was  leading 
the  way  at  the  head  of  the  grand  procession  of  the 

10-  thirteen  states,  McKean,  on  Monday,  the  tenth  of 
December,  announced  to  the  Pennsylvania  conven- 
tion that  he  should  on  the  twelfth  press  the  vote  for 
ratification. 

11.  On  the  next  day  Wilson  summed  up  his  defence  of 
the  constitution,  and  repeated  :  "  This  system  is  not 
a  compact ;  I  cannot  discern  the  least  trace  of  a 
compact ;  the  introduction  to  the  work  is  not  an  un- 
meaning flourish ;  the  system  itself  tells  you  what  it 
is,  an  ordinance,  an  establishment  of  the  people."^ 
The  opposition  followed  the  line  of  conduct  marked 

12.  out  by  the  opposition  in  Virginia.  On  the  twelfth, 
before  the  question  for  ratification  was  taken.  White- 

'  Packet,  17  Nov.,  1787.  »  Elliot,  ii.  497,  499. 

"  Journ.'ila  of  Congress,  iv.  Ap- 
pendix, 40. 


THE    CONSTITUTION   IN   PENNSYLVANLi.  251 

hill  presented  petitions  from  seven  liundred  and  fifty  chap. 
inhabitants  of  Cumberland  county  against  adopting  s^^^ 
the  constitution  without  amendments,  and  particular-  ^^^^^'^• 
ly  without  a  bill  of  rights  to  secure  liberty  in  matters     12. 
of  religion,  trial  by  jury,  the  freedom  of  the  press,  the 
sole  power  in  the  individual  states  to  organize  the 
militia ;  the  repeal  of  the  executive  power  of  the  sen- 
ate, and  consequent  appointment  of  a  constitutional 
council ;    a  ^prohibition  of    repealing    or    modifying 
laws  of  the  United  States  by  treaties  ;  restrictions  on 
the  federal  judiciary  power;  a  confirmation  to  the 
several  states  of  their  sovereignty,  with  every  power, 
jurisdiction,  and  right  not  expressly  delegated  to  the 
United  States  in  congress  assembled.     To  secure  this 
end,  he  showed  a  concert  with  the  measure  which 
Mason  and  Randolph  had  proposed  in  the  federal 
convention  and  Richard  Henry  Lee  in  congress,  and 
which  led  the  Virginia  legislature  on  that  very  day 
to  pass  the  act  for  communicating  with  sister  states/ 

The  amendments  which  Whitehill  proposed  were 
not  suffered  to  be  entered  in  the  journal.  His  mo- 
tion v^'^as  rejected  by  forty-six  to  twenty-three;  and 
then  the  new  constitution  vras  ratified  by  the  same 
majority. 

On  Thursday  the  convention  marched  in  proces-  13. 
sion  to  the  court-house,  where  it  proclaimed  the  rati- 
fication. Returning  to  the  place  of  meeting,  the 
forty-six  subscribed  their  names  to  their  act.  The 
opposition  were  invited  to  add  their  names  as  a  fair 
and  honorable  acquiescence  in  the  principle  that  the 
majority  should  govern.     John  Harris  refused ;  yet 

^  Heniog,  xii.  463. 


252      THE  PEOPLE  IN  JUDGMEIST  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  held  himself  bound  by  the  decision  of  the  majority. 
— ,^^  Smilie  answered  :  "  My  hand  shall  never  give  the  lie 
^l^'^-  to  my  heart  and  tongue."     Twenty-one  of  the  minor- 
13.     ity  signed  an  exceedingly  long  addi'ess  to  their  con- 
stituents, complaining  that  the  extent  of  the  country 
did  not  admit  of  the  proposed  form  of  government 
without  danger  to  liberty ;  and  that  the  powers  vest- 
ed in  congress  would  lead  to  an  iron-handed  despot- 
ism, with  unlimited  control  of  the  purse    and  the 
sword. 

The  ratification  gave  unbounded  satisfaction  to  all 
Pennsylvania  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Susquehanna ; 
beyond  that  river  loud  murmurs  were  mingled  mth 
15.  thi'eats  of  resistance  in  arms.  On  the  fifteenth  the 
convention  dissolved  itself,  after  offering  a  permanent 
and  a  temporary  seat  of  government  to  the  United 
States. 

The  population  of  New  Jersey  at  that  time  was 
almost  exclusively  rural ;  in  the  west  chiefly  the  de- 
scendants of  Quakers,  in  the  east  of  Dutch  and  Scot- 
tish Calviuists.  This  industrious,  frugal,  and  pious 
people,  little  agitated  by  political  disputes,  received 
the  federal  constitution  with  joy,  and  the  conscious- 
ness that  the  deeds  of  its  own  sons  had  contributed 
essentially  to  the  result.* 
Oct         On  the  twenty-sixth  of  October  its  lesrislature  called 

26.  .  . 

a  state  convention  by  a  unanimous  vote.     On  the  elev- 
Doc.    enth  of  December  the  convention  of  New  Jersey,  com- 
])08ed  of  accomplished  civilians,  able  judges,  experi- 
enced generals,  and  fair-minded,  intelligent  husband- 
12.     men,  assembled  in  Trenton.     The  next  day  was  spent 

'  Penn.  Journal,  7  Nov.,  1787. 


11. 


THE   CONSTITUTION   IN   NEW    JEESEY.  253 

in  orcranizino:  tlie  house,  all  tlie  elected  members  beino;  chap. 
present  save  one.    Jolin  Stevens  was  chosen  president  -^^^^^ 
by   ballot;    Samuel    Whitham   Stockton,    secretary,  ^l^*^- 
The  morning  began  with  prayer.     Then  with  open     12. 
doors  the  convention  proceeded  to  read  the  federal 
constitution  by  sections,  giving  opportunity  for  de- 
bates and  for  votes  if  called  for ;  and  after  a  week's 
deliberation,  on  Tuesday,  the  eighteenth,  determined     is. 
unanimously  to  ratify  and  confirm  the  federal  consti- 
tution.    A  committee,  on  which  appear  the  names  of 
Brearley,  a  member  of  the  federal  convention,  "VVith- 
erspoon,  Neilson,  Beatty,  former  members  of  congress, 
was  appointed  to  draw  uj)  the  form  of  the  ratifica- 
tion;  and  the  people  of  the  state  of  New  Jersey, 
"  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  members  present, 
agreed  to,  ratified,  and  confirmed  the  proposed  con- 
stitution and  every  part  thereof." ' 

On  the  next  day,  the  resolve  for  ratification  having     19. 
been  engrossed  in  duplicate  on  parchment,  one  copy 
for  the  congress  of  the  United  States  and  one  for  the 
archives  of  the  state,  every  member  of  the  convention 
present  subscribed  his  name. 

In  the  shortest  possible  time,  Delaware,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  New  Jersey,  the  three  central  states,  one 
by  a  majority  of  two  thirds,  the  others  unanimously, 
accepted  the  constitution. 

The  union  of  the  central  states  was  of  the  best 
omen.  Before  knowing  their  decision,  Georgia  at  the 
extreme  south  had  independently  taken  its  part ;  its 
legislatm'e  chanced  to  be  in  session  when  the  message 
from  congress  amved.    All  its  relations  to  the  United 

*  Penn.  Journal  and  Penn.  Packet,  22  and  29  Dec. 


254      THE  PEOPLE  IN  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTIOIS . 

CHAP.  States  were  favorable ;  it  was  in  possession  of  a  terri- 
tory abounding  in  resources  and  large  enough  to  con- 
stitute an  empire ;  its  people  felt  the  need  of  protec- 
tion against  Spain,  which  ruled  along  their  southern 
frontier  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Atlantic,  and 
against  the  savages  who  dwelt  in  their  forests  and 
huno'  on  the  borders  of  their  settlements.  A  conven- 
23.  tion  which  was  promptly  called  met  on  Christmas-day, 
^^dth  power  to  adopt  or  reject  any  part  or  the  whole 
of  the  proposed  constitution.     Assembled  at  Augus- 

Van^"  ^^'  ^^^  members,  finding  themselves  all  of  one  mind, 
2.  on  the  second  day  of  the  new  year,  unanimously,  for 
themselves  and  for  the  people  of  Georgia,  fully  and 
entirely  assented  to,  ratified,  and  adopted  the  pro- 
posed constitution.  They  hoped  that  their  ready  com- 
pliance would  "  tend  to  consolidate  the  union  "  and 
"promote  the  happiness  of  the  common  country." 
The  completing  of  the  ratification  by  the  signing  of 
the  last  name  was  announced  by  a  salute  of  thu'teen 
guns  in  token  of  faith  that  every  state  would  accede 
to  the  new  bonds  of  union.* 

*  Stevens,  History  of  Georgia,  ii.  387. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  CONSTITUTION  IN  CONNECTICUT  AND  MASSACHU- 
SETTS. 

On  the  twenty-sixtli  of  September  Roger  Sherman  chap. 
and  Oliver  Ellswortli,  two  of  tlie  delegates  from 
Connecticut  to  the  federal  convention,  transmitted  to 
Samuel  Huntington,  then  governor  of  the  state,  a 
printed  copy  of  the  constitution  to  be  laid  before 
the  legislature.  In  an  accompanying  letter  they  ob- 
served that  the  proportion  of  suffrage  accorded  to  the 
state  remained  the  same  as  before ;  and  they  gave  the 
assurance  that  the  "  additional  powers  vested  in  con- 
gress extended  only  to  matters  respecting  the  com- 
mon interests  of  the  union,  and  w^ere  specially  de- 
fined ;  so  that  the  particular  states  retained  their  sov- 
ereignty in  all  other  matters."  *  The  restraint  on  the 
legislatures  of  the  several  states  respecting  bills  of 
credit,  or  making  anything  but  money  a  tender  in 
payment  of  debts,  or  impairing  the  obligation  of  con- 
tracts by  ex  post  facto  laws,  was  a  security  to  the 
commercial  interests  of  foreigners  as  well  as  of  the 
citizens  of  different  states." 

'  Compare  the  remark  of  Wilson,         *  For  the  letter,  see  Carey's  Mu- 
supra,  344,  245.  seum,  ii.  434,  and  Elliot,  i.  491,  493. 


256      THE  PEOPLE  EST  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP.       Tlie  governor  was  a  zealous  friend  of  tlie  new 

III  .      . 

— r^  constitution.      The  legislature,  on  tlie  sixteenth  of 

^Ort^'  ^c^o^^r?  unanimously'  called  a  convention  of  the 
1*5.  state.  To  tliis  were  cliosen  the  retired  and  the  pres- 
ent highest  officers  of  its  government ;  the  judges  of 
its  courts ;  "  ministers  of  the  Gospel ; "  and  nearly 
sixty  who  had  fought  for  independence.  Connecti- 
cut had  a  special  interest  in  ratifying  the  constitu- 
tion ;  the  compromise  requiring  for  acts  of  legislation 
a  majority  of  the  states  and  a  majority  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people  had  prevailed  through  its 
own  delegates. 

178  8.  jjQ  January,  1788,  the  convention,  having  been  or- 
ganized in  the  state  house  in  Hartford,  moved  imme- 
diately to  the  North  Meeting  House,  where,  in  the 
presence  of  a  multitude,  the  constitution  was  read 
and  debated  section  by  section,  under  an  agreement 
that  no  vote  should'  be  taken  till  the  whole  of  it 
should  have  been  considered." 
4.  On  the  fourth,  Oliver  Ellsworth  explained  the  ne- 

.  cessity  of  a  federal  government  for  the  national  de- 
fence, for  the  management  of  foreign  relations,  for 
preserving  peace  between  the  states,  for  giving  en- 
ergy to  the  public  administration.  He  pointed  out 
that  a  state  like  Connecticut  was  specially  beneHted 
by  the  restraint  on  separate  states  from  collecting 
duties  on  foreign  importations  made  through  their 
more  convenient  harbors. 

Johnson  added :  While  under  the  confederation 
states  in  their  political  capacity  could  be  coerced  by 
nothing  but  a  military  force,  the  constitution  iutro- 

•  Madison,  i.  359.  '''Penu.  racket  for  18  Jan.,  1788. 


THE   CONSTITUTION   IN   CONNECTICUT.  257 

duces  tlie  mild  and  equal  energy  of  magistrates  for  chap. 
tlie  execution  of  the  laws.    "  By  a  signal  intervention  — ,-i^ 
of  divine  providence,  a  convention  from  states  differ-  ^ !  ^^" 
ing  in  circumstances,  interests,  and   manners,  have     4. 
hannoniously  adopted  one  grand  system ;  if  we  reject 
it,  our  national  existence  must  come  to  an  end." ' 

The  grave  and  weighty  men  who  listened  to  him 
approved  his  words ;  but  when  the  paragraph  which 
gave  to  the  general  government  the  largest  powers  of 
taxation  was  debated,  James  Wadsworth,  who  had 
served  as  a  general  officer  in  the  war,  objected  to  ?• 
duties  on  imports  as  partial  to  the  southern  states. 
"Connecticut,"  answered  Ellsworth,  "is  a  manufac- 
turing state ;  it  already  manufactures  its  implements 
of  husbandly  and  haK  its  clothes."  Wadsworth 
further  objected,  that  authority  which  unites  the 
power  of  the  sword  to  that  of  the  purse  is  despotic. 
Ellsworth  replied :  "  The  general  legislature  ought 
to  have  a  revenue ;  and  it  ought  to  have  power  to  de- 
fend the  state  against  foreign  enemies ;  there  can  be 
no  government  without  the  power  of  the  purse  and 
the  sword."  "  So  well  guarded  is  this  constitution," 
observed  Oliver  Wolcott,  then  lieutenant-governor, 
"  it  seems  impossible  that  the  rights  either  of  the 
states  or  of  the  people  should  be  destroyed."  When 
on  the  ninth  the  vote  was  taken,  one  hundred  and  9. 
twenty-eight  appeared  for  the  constitution ;  forty 
only  against  it." 

The  people  received  with  delight  the  announce- 
ment of  this  great  majority  of  more  than  three  to 
one  ;  at  the  next  election  the  "  wrong-headed  "  James 

^  Penn.  Packet,  34  Jan.,  1788.  "^  Penn.  Packet,  24  Jan.,  1788. 

VOL.  n.  17 


258      THE  PEOPLE  m  JLTDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTIOlSr. 

CHAP.  Wadsworth  was  left  out  of  the  government ;  and 
< — .-L-  opposition  grew  more  and  more  faint  till  it  wholly 

^Od;^*  ^^^^  away, 
n.  The  country  from  the  St.  Croix  to  the  St.  Mary's 
now  fixed  its  attention  on  Massachusetts,  whose  ad- 
verse decision  would  inevitably  involve  the  defeat  of 
the  constitution.  The  representatives  of  that  great 
state,  who  came  together  on  the  seventeenth  of  Oc- 
tober, had  been  chosen  under  the  influence  of  the 
recent  insurrection ;  and  the  constitution,  had  it  been 
submitted  to  their  judgment,  would  have  been  re- 
jected.* In  communicating  it  to  the  general  court, 
the  governor  most  wisely  avoided  provoking  a  dis- 
cussion on  its  merits,  and  simj)ly  recommended  its 
reference  to  a  convention  from  regard  to  the  worth 
of  its  authors  and  their  unanimity  on  questions 
affecting  the  prosperity  of  the  nation  and  the  com- 
plicated rights  of  each  separate  state." 

Following  his  recommendation  with  exactness,  the 
senate,  of  which  Samuel  Adams  was  president,  prompt- 
ly adopted  a  resolve  to  refer  the  new  constitution  to 
a  convention  of  the  commonwealth.  On  motion  of 
Theophilus  Parsons,  of  Newbuiyport,  a  lawyer  des- 

'  B.  Lincoln  to  Washington,  Bos-  Jan.,  1788,  the  darkest  hour,  places 

ton,  19  March,  1788.     MS.  Hancock   and    Bowdoin   foremost 

'  There  is  no  ground  whatever  in  the  list  of  the  managers  of  the 
for  an  insinuation  that  Hancock  cause  of  the  constitution,  uam- 
Tvas  at  any  time  o])]X)sed  to  an  ap-  ing  them  with  equal  confidence, 
proval  of  the  constitution.  His  Hancock,  who  Avas  not  wanting  iu 
conduct  on  that  subject  was  from  sagacity,  may  hjive  seen,  and  oth- 
beginning  to  end  consistent  ;  and  ers  may  have  let  him  know  that 
80  wise  that  the  aftcrthouglit  of  they  too  saw,  how  much  the  sup- 
the  most  skilful  caviller  can  not  ])ort  of  the  constitution  would 
point  out  where  it  could  be  im-  strengthen  his' jiosition  in  public 
proved.  Nathani(!l  Gorhani,  who  life;  biit  at  tliat  time  he  had  noth- 
nad  known  Hancock  long  and  ing  to  fear  from  the  rivalry  of  Bow- 
well,  in  a  letter  to  Madison  of  37  doiu,  who  had  deliuitively  retired. 


THE   CONSTITUTION   IN   MASSACHTSETTS.  259 

tined  to  attain  in  liis  state  the  highest  professional  chap. 

honors,  the  resolve  of  the  senate  was  opened  in  the  A- 

house.  Spectators  crowded  the  galleries  and  the  ^1^'^' 
floor.  Signs  of  a  warm  opposition  appeared ;  the  n. 
right  to  supersede  the  old  confederation  was  denied 
alike  to  the  convention  and  to  the  people  ;  the  adop- 
tion of  a  new  constitution  by  but  nine  of  the  thir- 
teen states  would  be  the  breach  of  a  still  valid  com- 
pact. An  inalienable  power,  it  was  said  in  reply, 
resides  in  the  people  to  amend  their  form  of  govern- 
ment. An  array  of  parties  was  avoided ;  and  with 
little  opposition  a  convention  was  ordered. 

The  choice  took  place  at  a  moment  when  the  coun- 
try people  of  Massachusetts  were  bowed  down  by 
cumulative  debts,  and  quivering  in  the  agonies  of  a 
suppressed  insurrection;  the  late  disturbers  of  the 
peace  were  scarcely  certain  of  amnesty ;  and  they 
knew  that  the  general  government,  if  established, 
must  array  itself  against  violence.  The  election  re- 
sulted in  the  choice  of  at  least  eighteen  of  the  late 
insurgents.  The  rural  population  were  disinclined 
to  a  change.  The  people  in  the  district  of  Maine, 
which  in  territoiy  far  exceeded  Massachusetts,  had 
never  mllingly  accepted  annexation;  the  desire  for 
a  government  of  their  own  outweighed  their  willing- 
ness to  enter  into  the  union  as  a  member  of  Massa- 
chusetts ;  and  one  half  of  their  delegates  were  ready 
to  oppose  the  constitution.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
commercial '  towTis  even  of  Maine,  all  manufacturers, 
men  of  wealth,  the  lawyers,  including  the  judges  of 
all  the  courts,  and  nearly  all  the  officers  of  the  late 
army,  were  in  favor  of  the  new  form  of  general  gov- 


260      THE  PEOPLE  EST  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION'. 

ernment.  Tlie  voters  of  Cambridge  rejected  El- 
bridge  Gerry  in  favor  of  Francis  Dana ;  in  Beverly, 
Xathan  Dane  was  put  aside '  for  George  Cabot ;  but 
the  members  from  Maine  were  exactly  balanced ;  of 
those  from  Massachusetts  proper  a  majority  of  per- 
haps ten  or  twelve  was  opposed  to  the  ratification 
of  the  constitution.  Among  the  elected  were  King, 
Gorham,  and  Strong,  who  had  been  of  the  federal 
convention ;  the  late  and  present  governors,  Bowdoin 
and  Hancock;  Heath  and  Lincoln  of  the  army;  of 
rising  statesmen,  John  Brooks  and  Christopher  Gore ; 
Theophilus  Parsons,  Theodore  Sedgwick,  John  Da- 
vis, and  Fisher  Ames ;  and  about  twenty  ministers 
of  various  religious  denominations.  So  able  a  body 
had  never  met  in  Massachusetts.  Full  of  faith  that 
the  adoj)tion  of  the  constitution  was  the  greatest 
question  of  the  age,  the  federalists  were  all  thor- 
oughly in  earnest,  and  influenced  by  no  inferior  mo- 
tives ;  so  that  there  could  be  among  them  neither 
cabals  in  council,  nor  uncertainty  in  action.  They 
obeyed  an  immovable  determination  to  overcome  the 
seemingly  adverse  majority.  As  a  consequence,  they 
had  discipline  and  concerted  action. 

It  was  consistent  with  the  whole  public  life  of 
Samuel  Adams,  the  helmsman  of  the  revolution  at  its 
origin,  the  truest  representative  of  the  home  rule  of 
Massachusetts  in  its  town  meetings  and  general  court, 
that  he  was  startled  when,  on  entering  the  new  "  build- 
ing, he  met  with  a  national  government  "instead  of  a 
federal  union  of  sovereign  states ; "  but,  in  direct  an- 
tagonism to  George  Mason  and  Richard  Henry  Lee, 

•  lud.  Gazetteer,  8,  9  Jan.,  1788. 


THE   COJfSTITUTION   IN   MASSACHUSETTS.  261 

he  had  always  approved  granting  to  the  general  gov-  chap. 
emnient  the  power  of  regulating  commerce/     Before  v--^-^ 
he  had  declared  his  intentions,  perhaps  before  they  i  J  ^  8. 
had  fully  ripened,  his  constituents  of  the  industrial 
classes  of  Boston,  which  had  ever  been  his  main  sup- 
port, came  together,  and  from  a  crowded  hall  a  cry 
went  forth  that  on  the  rejection  of  the  constitution 
"  navigation  "  would  languish  and  "  skilful  mechanics 
be  compelled  to  emigrate,"  so  that  "any  vote  of  a 
delegate  from  Boston  against  adopting  it  would  be 
contrary  to  the  interests,  feelings,  and  wishes  of  the 
tradesmen  of  the  town." 

The  morning  betokened  foul  weather,  but  the 
heavy  clonds  would  not  join  together.  The  enter- 
prising and  prosperous  men  of  Maine,  though  they 
desired  separation  from  Massachusetts,  had  no  sym- 
pathy with  the  late  insurrection ;  and  the  country 
people,  though  they  could  only  by  slow  degi'ees  ac- 
custom their  minds  to  untried  restraints  on  their  rus- 
tic liberty,  never  wavered  in  their  attachment  to  the 
union.  The  convention  was  organized  with  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  commonwealth  as  its  president.*  The 
federalists  of  Philadelphia  had  handled  their  oppo- 
nents roughly;  the  federalists  of  Massachusetts  re- 
solved never  in  debate  to  fail  in  gentleness  and 
courtesy.  A  motion  to  request  Elbridge  Gerry  to  u. 
take  a  seat  in  the  convention,  that  he  might  answer 

*  The  activity  and  wise  and  effi-  is    thoroughly  supported  by  the 

cient  support  of  the   constitution  record. 

by  Samuel  Adams  I  received  from        '  Debates  and  Proceedings  in  the 

my  friend  John  Davis,  who  was  a  Convention,  etc.,  published  by  the 

member   of  the    convention,    and  legislature  of  Massachusetts,  edited 

who     was     singularly    skilful    in  by  B.  K.  Petrce  and  C.  Hale.    The 

weighing  evidence.   His  statement  best  collection  on  the  subject. 


262      THE  PEOPLE  ITS'  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  questions  of  fact,  met  no  objection ;  and  lie  was 
-^-r-^  left  to  gi'ow  sick  of  sitting  in  a  house  to  wliicli  lie 
^l^^-  had  failed  of  an  election,  and  in  whose  debates  he 

Jan.  ^  ^  ' 

14-  could  not  join.  On  motion  of  Caleb  Strong,  no  vote 
was  to  be  taken  till  the  debate,  which  assumed  the 
form  of  a  free  conversation,  should  have  gone  over 
the  several  paragraphs  of  the  constitution.* 

Massachusetts  had  instructed  its  delegates  in  the 
federal  convention  to  insist  on  the  annual  election 

15.  of  representatives;  Samuel  Adams  asked  why  they 
were  to  be  chosen  for  two  years.  Strong  explained 
that  it  was  a  necessary  compromise  among  so  many 
states ;  and  Adams  answered :  "  I  am  satisfied." " 
This  remark  the  federal  leaders  entreated  him  to 
repeat ;  he  did  so,  when  all  gave  attention,  and  the 
objection  was  definitively  put  to  rest. 

Refemng  to  the  power  of  congress  to  take  part 
in  regulating  the  elections  of  senators  and  represen- 

16.  tatives,  Phineas  Bishop,  of  Rehoboth,  proclaimed 
"  the  liberties  of  the  yeomanry  at  an  end."  It  is  but 
"  a  guarantee  of  free  elections,"  said  Cabot.  "  And  a 
security  of  the  rights  of  the  people,"  added  Theophilus 
Parsons.  "  Our  rulers,"  observed  Widgery,  of  Maine, 
"ought  to  have  no  power  which  they  can  abuse."" 
"All  the  godly  men  we  read  of,"  added  Abraham 
White,  of  Bristol,  "  have  failed ;  I  would  not  trust  a 
flock,  though  every  one  of  them  should  be  a  Moses." 

17.  On  the  seventeenth  an  official  letter  from  Connec- 
ticut announced  the  very  great  majority  by  which  it 
had  adopted  the  constitution;  but   its  enemies   in 

»  Elliot,  ii.  3.  "  Elliot,  ii.  28. 

'  From  Joliu  Davis. 


THE    CONSTITUTION   EST   MASSACHUSETTS.  263 

Massachusetts  were  unmoved.  Samuel  Thompson,  ^^y^^- 
of  Maine,  condemned  it  for  not  requiring  of  a  repre- 
sentative some  property  qualification,  saying  :  "  Men 
who  have  nothing  to  lose  have  nothing  to  fear."  "  Do 
you  wish  to  exclude  from  the  federal  government  a 
good  man  because  he  is  not  rich  ? "  asked  Theodore 
Sedgwick.  "The  men  w^ho  have  most  injured  the 
country,"  said  King,  "  have  commonly  been  rich  men." 

The  compromise  respecting  the  taxation  and  rep-  is. 
resentation  of  slaves  was  cried  as-ainst.  Thomas 
Dawes,  of  Boston,  answered  :  "  Congress  in  the  year 
1808  may  wholly  prohibit  the  importation  of  them, 
leaving  every  j)articular  state  in  the  mean  time  its 
own  option  totally  to  prohibit  their  introduction  into 
its  own  tenitories.  Slavery  could  not  be  abolished 
by  an  act  of  congress  in  a  moment ;  but  it  has  re- 
ceived a  mortal  wound."  * 

On  the  nineteenth,  a  farmer  of  AVorcester  county  19. 
complained :  "  There  is  no  provision  that  men  in  powd- 
er should  have  any  religion ;  a  Papist  or  an  infidel  is 
as  eligible  as  Christians."  John  Brooks  and  Parsons 
spoke  on  the  other  side ;  and  Daniel  Shute,  the  minis- 
ter of  Hingham,  said  :  "  No  conceivable  advantage  to 
the  whole  will  result  from  a  test."  William  Jones,  of 
Maine,  rejoined  :  "  It  would  be  happy  for  the  United 
States  if  our  public  men  w^ere  to  be  of  those  who  have  a 
good  standing  in  the  church."  Philip  Payson,  the  min- 
ister of  Chelsea,  retorted  :  "  Human  tribunals  for  the 
consciences  of  men  are  impious  encroachments  upon 
the  prerogatives  of  God.  A  religious  test,  as  a  quali- 
fication for  office,  would  have  been  a  great  blemish." 

» EUiot,  ii.  41,  149. 


264      THE  PEOPLE  m  JUDG3IENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP.  William  Jones,  of  Maine,  objected  to  tte  long  pe- 
.^^^r^  riod  of  office  for  the  senators.  "One  third  of  the 
178  8.  senators,"  observed  Fisher  Ames,  "are  to  be  intro- 

Jan.  '  ... 

19.  duced  every  second  year ;  the  constitution,  m  prac- 
tice as  in  theory,  will  be  that  of  a  federal  republic." 
"We  cannot,"  continued  Jones,  "recall  the  senators." 
"Their  duration,"  answered  King,  "is  not  too  long 
for  a  right  discharge  of  their  duty." 

21.  On  the  twenty-first,  King  explained  the  nature  of 
the  transition '  from  a  league  of  states  vrith  only 
authority  to  make  requisitions  on  each  state,  to  a  re- 
public instituted  by  the  people  with  the  right  to  ap- 
ply laws  directly  to  the  individual  members  of  the 
states.  He  showed  that  without  the  power  over  the 
purse  and  the  sword  no  government  can  give  security 
to  the  people ;  analyzed  and  defended  the  grant  of 
revenue  alike  from  indirect  and  direct  taxes,  and  in- 
sisted that  the  proposed  constitution  is  the  only  effi- 
cient federal  government  that  can  be  substituted  for 
the  old  confederation. 

Thomas  Dawes,  of  Boston,  defended  the  power  of 
laying  imposts  and  excises  in  this  wise :  "  For  want 
of  general  laws  of  prohibition  through  the  union, 
our  coasting  trade,  our  whole  commerce,  is  going 
to  ruin.  A  vessel  from  Halifax  with  its  fish  and 
whalebone  finds  as  hearty  a  welcome  at  the  southern 
ports  as  though  built  and  navigated  and  freighted 
from  Salem  or  Boston.  South  of  Delaware  three 
fourths  of  the  exports  and  three  fourths  of  the  re- 
turns are  made  in  British  bottoms.  Of  timber,  one 
half  of  the  value — of  other  produce  shipped  for  Lon- 
'  Elliot,  ii.  54-57. 


THE    CONSTirUTION   ES"   MASSACHUSETTS.  265 

don  from  a  soutliem  state,  tliree  tenths — pro  to  tlie  Brit-  chap. 

.  .Ill 

isli  canier  in  tlie  names  of  freight  and  charges.    This  — ^ 

is  money  which  belongs  to  the  New  England  states,  ^j^^^' 
because  we  can  furnish  the  ships  much  better  than  21. 
the  British.  Our  sister  states  are  willing  that  these 
benefits  should  be  secured  to  us  by  national  laws ; 
but  we  are  slaves  to  Europe.  We  have  no  unifonn- 
ity  in  duties,  imposts,  excises,  or  prohibitions.  Con- 
gress has  no  authority  to  mthhold  advantages  from 
foreigners  in  order  to  obtain  reciprocal  advantages 
from  them.  Our  manufacturers  have  received  no 
encoui'agement  by  national  duties  on  foreign  manu- 
factures, and  they  never  can  by  any  authority  in  the 
confederation.  The  very  face  of  our  country,  our 
numerous  falls  of  water  and  places  for  mills,  lead  to 
manufactures :  have  they  been  encouraged  ?  Has  con- 
gress been  able  by  national  laws  to  prevent  the 
importation  of  such  foreign  commodities  as  are  made 
fi'om  such  raw  materials  as  we  ourselves  raise  ?  The 
citizens  of  the  United  States  within  the  last  three 
years  have  contracted  debts  mth  the  subjects  of  Great 
Britain  to  the  amount  of  near  six  millions  of  dollars. 
If  we  wish  to  encourage  our  own  manufactures,  to  pre- 
serve our  own  commerce,  to  raise  the  value  of  our  own 
lands,  we  must  give  congress  the  power  in  question."  * 
Every  day  that  passed  showed  the  doubtfulness  of 
the  convention.  "The  decision  of  Massachusetts 
either  way,"  wrote  Madison  from  congress,  "  will  in- 
volve the  result  in  New  York,"  and  a  negative  would 
romse  the  minority  in  Pennsylvania  to  a  stubborn 
resistance.     Langdon,  of  New  Hampshire,  and  men 

'  ElUot,  ii.  57-60. 


266      THE  PEOPLE  IN  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  fi'om  Newport  and  Providence  who  came  to  watch 

III 
.^.^-L_-  the  course  of  the  debates,  reported  that  New  Hamp- 

17  8  8.  gliipe  and  Rhode  Island  would  accept  the  constitution 

Jan.  .  ^ 

21.  should  it  be  adopted  by  Massachusetts.  Gerry,  under 
the  influence  of  Richard  Henry  Lee,  had  written  a 
letter  to  the  two  houses  of  Massachusetts,  insinuating 
that  the  constitution  needed  amendments,  and  should 
not  be  adopted  till  they  were  made.  These  same 
views  it  was  attempted  to  diffuse  throughout  Vii^ginia 
and  Maryland ;  but  Washington  threw  himself  into 
the  discussion.  "If  another  federal  convention  is 
attempted,"  so  he  wrote  to  Charles  Cai^ter,  of  Fred- 
ericksburg, "its  members  wiU  be  more  discordant; 
will  agree  upon  no  general  plan.  The  constitution  is 
the  best  that  can  be  obtained  at  this  time  ;  it  is  fi'ee 
fi'om  many  of  the  imperfections  with  which  it  is 
charged.  The  constitution  or  disunion  is  before  us 
to  choose  from.  If  the  constitution  is  our  election, 
a  constitutional  door  is  open  for  amendments,  and 
may  be  adopted  in  a  peaceable  manner  without  tu- 

23.  mult  or  disorder."  *  This  advice  reached  Boston  in 
season  to  be  published  in  the  Boston  Centinel  of  the 
twenty-third  of  January.  In  the  convention  the  ma- 
jority still  seemed  adverse  to  the  constitution.  To 
win  votes  from  the  ranks  of  its  foes,  its  friends  re- 
solved to  combine  with  its  ratification  a  recommen- 
dation of  amendments.  For  this  end  Bowdoin  and 
Hancock,  Theophilus  Parsons  and  Gorham,  Samuel 
Adams,  Heath,  and  a  very  few  other  resolute  and 
trusty  men,  matured  in  secret  council  a  plan  of  action." 

*  Wfishinfjton    to    Charles  Car-        '  Kinj^j  to  Madison,   quoted  in 
tor,     14    I)(!C.,    1787,    in     Penn.     Madison's  Writings,  i.  373. 
Packet  of  11  Jan.,  1788. 


THE    CONSTITUTION   IN   MASSACHUSETTS.  267 

Meantime  Samuel  Thompson  could  see  no  safety  chap. 
but  in  a  bill  of  rights.     Bowdoin  spoke  at  large  for  ^^ 
the  new  government  with  its  ability  to  pay  the  pub-  ^  ]  ^  ^• 
lie  debts  and  to  regulate  commerce.     "  Power  inade-     23. 
quate  to  its  object  is  worse  than  none ;  checks  are 
provided  to  prevent  abuse.     The  whole  constitution 
is  a  declaration  of  rights.     It  will  complete  the  tem- 
ple of  American  liberty,  and  consecrate  it  to  justice. 
May  this  convention  erect  Massachusetts  as  one  of  its 
pillars  on  the  foundation  of  perfect  union,  never  to 
be  dissolved  but  by  the  dissolution  of  natui'e." ' 

Parsons  recapitulated  and  answered  the  objections 
brought  against  the  constitution,  and  closed  his  re- 
marks by  saying :  "  An  increase  of  the  powers  of  the 
federal  constitution  by  usurpation  will  be  upon  thir- 
teen completely  organized  legislatui^es  having  means 
as  well  as  inclination  to  oppose  it  successfully.  The 
people  themselves  have  power  to  resist  it  without  an 
appeal  to  arms.  An  act  of  usurpation  is  not  law,  and 
therefore  is  not  obligatory ;  and  any  man  may  be  jus- 
tified in  his  resistance.  Let  him  be  considered  as  a 
criminal  by  the  general  government :  his  own  fellow- 
citizens  are  his  jury ;  and  if  they  pronounce  him  inno- 
cent, not  all  the  powers  of  congress  can  hurt  him." "" 

On  the  morning  of  the  twenty-fourth,  Nason,  of  24. 
Maine,  an  implacable  enemy  of  the  constitution,  pro- 
posed to  cease  its  discussion  by  paragraphs  so  as  to  open 
the  whole  question.  This  attempt  "  to  hurry  the  mat- 
ter" was  resisted  by  Samuel  Adams  in  a  S23eech  so  effec- 
tive that  the  motion  was  negatived  without  a  division. 

On  the  next  day,  Amos  Singletary,  of  Sutton,  a     25. 

»  Elliot,  ii.  81,  82,  84,  85,  87,  88.  »  Elliot,  ii.  94. 


268      THE  PEOPLE  IN  JTJDGMElSrT  OTT  THE  CONSTTTUTIOlsr. 

CHAP,  husbandman  venerable  from  age  and  from  patriotic 
s-^^  service  from  tlie  very  beginning  of  tlie  troubles  v^^itli 
178  8.  England,  resisted  tlie  constitution  as  an  attempt  to 
25.     tax  and  bind  tlie  people  in  all  cases  wliatsoever. 

Jonathan  Smith,  of  Lanesborough,  speaking  to 
men  who  li'ke  himself  followed  the  plough  for  their 
livelihood,  began  a  reply  by  arguments  drawn  from 
the  late  insurrection,  when  he  was  called  to  order. 
Samuel  Adams  instantly  said  with  authority :  "  The 
gentleman  is  in  order ;  let  him  go  on  in  his  ovm 
way."  The  "plain  man"  then  proceeded  in  homely 
words  to  show  that  faiTQers  in  the  western  counties, 
in  their  great  distress  during  the  insurrection,  would 
have  been  glad  to  snatch  at  anything  like  a  govern- 
ment for  protection.  "  This  constitution,"  he  said,  "  is 
just  such  a  cure  for  these  disorders  as  we  wanted. 
Anarchy  leads  to  tyranny." 

Attention  was  arrested  by  the  clause  on  the  slave- 
trade.  "  My  profession,"  said  James  Neal,  of  Maine, 
"obliges  me  to  bear  witness  against  anything  that 
favors  making  merchandise  of  the  bodies  of  men,  and 
unless  this  objection  is  removed  I  cannot  put  my 
hand  to  the  constitution."  "  Shall  it  be  said,"  cried 
Samuel  Thompson,  "that  after  we  have  established 
our  own  independence  and  freedom  we  make  slaves 
of  others  ?  How  has  Washington  immortalized  him- 
self !  but  he  holds  those  in  slavery  who  have  as  good 
20.  a  right  to  be  free  as  himself."  Dana  and  Samuel 
Adams  rejoiced  that  a  door  was  to  be  opened  for 
the  total  annihilation  of  the  slave-trade  after  twenty 
years ;  Ijut  hatred  of  slavery  influenced  the  final  vote.' 

»  Elliot,  ii.  107,  120. 


THE   CONSTITUTION    IN   MASSACHUSETTS.  269 

On  tlie  morning  of  the  thirty-first  of  January,  Han-  chap. 
cock,  wlio  till  then  had  been  kept  from  his  place  by  ..^-v-w. 
painful  illness,  took  the  chair,  and  the  concerted  move-  ^  ?  ^  ^* 
ment  began.     Conversation  came  to  an  end;  and  Par-     si. 
sons  proposed  "  that  the  convention  do  assent  to  and 
ratify  the  constitution.'"     Heath  suggested  that  in 
ratifying  it  they  should  instruct  their  members  of 
congress  to  endeavor  to  provide  proper  checks  and 
guards  in  some  of  its  paragraphs,  and  that  the  con- 
vention should  correspond  with  their  sister  states,  to 
request  theii'  concuiTcnce." ' 

Hancock  then  sj)oke  earnestly  for  the  necessity  of 
adopting  the  proposed  form  of  government ;  and 
brought  forward  nine  general  amendments.  Taken 
fi'om  the  letters  of  Richard  Henry  Lee,  the  remon- 
strance of  the  minority  in  Pennsylvania,  and  the  ob- 
jections made  in  the  Massachusetts  debates,  "they 
were  the  production  of  the  federalists  after  mature 
deliberation,"  and  were  clad  in  terse  and  fittest  words, 
which  revealed  the  workmanship  of  Parsons.  "All 
powers  not  expressly  delegated  to  congress,"  so  ran 
the  most  important  of  them,  "  are  reserved  to  the 
several  states." 

"I  feel  myself  happy,"  thus  Samuel  Adams  ad- 
dressed the  chair,  "in  contemplating  the  idea  that 
many  benefits  will  result  from  your  Excellency's  con- 
ciliatory proposition  to  this  commonwealth  and  to 
the  whole  United  States.  The  objections  made  to 
this  constitution  as  far  as  Virginia  are  similar.  I 
have  had  my  doubts ;  other  gentlemen  have  had 
theii's ;   the  proposition  submitted  will  tend  to  re- 

*  Elliot,  ii.  120.  «  Elliot,  ii.  133. 


270      THE  PEOPLE  US"  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  move  such  doubts,  and  conciliate  the  minds  of  tlie 

III  . 

.^-.^^  convention    and   of    the    people   out-of-doors.      The 

1Y8  8.  measure  of  Massachusetts  v^ill  from  her  importance 

31.     have  the  most  salutary  effect  in  other  states  where 

conventions  have  not  yet  met,  and  throughout  the 

union.     The  people  should  be  united  in  a  federal 

government  to  withstand  the  common  enemy  and  to 

preserve  their  rights  and  liberties ;  I  should  fear  the 

consequences  of  large  minorities  in  the  several  states. 

"  The  article  which  empowers  congress  to  regulate 
commerce  and  to  form  treaties  I  esteem  particularly 
valuable.  For  want  of  this  power  in  our  national 
head  our  friends  are  grieved  ;  our  enemies  insult  us  ; 
our  minister  at  the  court  of  London  is  a  ci2:)her.  A 
power  to  remedy  this  evil  should  be  given  to  con- 
gress, and  applied  as  soon  as  possible.'  I  move  that 
the  paper  read  by  your  Excellency  be  now  taken  into 
consideration." 
Feb.  On  the  next  day  Samuel  Adams  invited  members 
to  propose  still  further  amendments ;  but  Nason,  of 
Maine,  and  the  foremost  in  opposition,  stubbornly 
refused  to  take  part  in  supporting  a  constitution 
which,  they  said,  "  destroyed  the  sovereignty  of  Mas- 
sachusetts." " 

The  measure  was  referred  to  a  committee  formed 
on  the  principle  of  selecting  from  each  county  one  of 
its  friends  and  one  of  its  opponents ;  but  as  both  of 

'Elliot,  ii.  124.     Let  no  one  be  its  ratification  a  recommendation  of 

misletl  1)3' tlie  words  "  coiidilional  amendments;  the  ratification  to  be 

amendments"  in  the  rejiort  of  Mr.  valid  wliatever  fate  mi<^ht  await  the 

Adams's  s])eech.     lie  spoke  not  of  amendments.     f]n>^  is  exactly  the 

nmendments  ofTered  as  the  condi-  proposition  concerted  between  Par- 

tion  of  the  acce))tance  of  the  con-  sons,  Hancock,  and  himself.   Rufus 

fititution  ]>y  Massachusetts,  but  that  Kin^jto  Knox,  in  Drake's  Knox,  ''"■\ 

Massachusetts  should  connect  with  "Elliot,  ii.  133,  134. 


1. 


THE   CONSTITUTION    IN   MASSACHUSETTS.  271 

the  two  delegates  from  Dukes  county  were  federalists  chap. 
and  only  one  of  them  took  a  place  in  the  committee,  ^^ 
thirteen  of  its  twenty -five  members  were  federalists  ^1^^^- 
from  the  beginning.     During  the  discussions  three      i. 
converts   were   gained ;   a  fourth   member   absented 
himself ;  and  a  fifth  declined  to  vote ;  so  that  in  the 
afternoon  of  Monday,  the  fourth  of  February,  Bow-      4. 
doin  as  chairman  of  the  committee  could  report  its 
approval  of  the  constitution  with  the  recommenda- 
tion of  amendments  by  a  vote  of  fifteen  to  seven. 

At  this  result  opposition  flared  anew.  Thomas 
Lusk,  of  West  Stockbridge,  revived  complaints  of 
the  slave-trade,  and  of  opening  the  door  to  popery 
and  the  inquisition  by  dispensing  with  a  religious 
test.'  But  Isaac  Backus,  the  Baptist  minister  of 
Middleborough,  one  of  the  most  exact  of  New  Eng- 
land historians,  replied :  "  In  reason  and  the  holy 
scriptures  religion  is  ever  a  matter  between  God  and 
individuals ;  the  imposing  of  religious  tests  hath  been 
the  greatest  engine  of  tyranny  in  the  world."  Re- 
buking the  importation  of  slaves  with  earnestness,  he 
trusted  in  the  passing  away  of  slaveiy  itself,  saying : 
"Slavery  grows  more  and  more  odious  to  the  world."' 
"  This  constitution,"  said  Fisher  Ames,  on  the  next  5. 
day,  "is  comparatively  perfect;  no  subsisting  gov- 
ernment, no  government  which  I  have  ever  heard 
of,  will  bear  a  comparison  mth  it.  The  state  gov- 
ernment is  a  beautiful  structure,  situated,  however, 
upon  the  naked  beach ;  the  union  is  the  dike  to 
fence  out  the  flood."  ' 

1  Elliot,  ii.  148.  ="  Elliot,  ii.  154-159. 

^  Elliot,  ii.  148-151. 


272      THE  PEOPLE  EST  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION". 

John  Taylor,  of  Worcester  county,  objected  tliat 
tlie  amendments  might  never  become  a  part  of  the 
^Feb^"  ®y^^®^>  ^^^  ^^^^  there  was  no  bill  of  rights.*     "  No 

5.  power,"  answered  Parsons,  "  is  given  to  congress  to 
infi'inge  on  any  one  of  the  natural  rights  of  the  peo- 
ple ;  should  they  attempt  it  without  constitutional 
authority,  the  act  would  be  a  nullity  and  could  not 
be  enforced.'"  Gilbert  Dench,  of  Middlesex,  coin- 
ciding mth  the  wishes  of  the  opposition  in  Virginia, 
and  with  a  motion  of  Whitehill  in  the  convention  of 
Pennsylvania,  proposed  an  adjournment  of  the  conven- 
tion to  some  future  day.  A  long  and  warm  contest 
ensued;  but  Samuel  Adams  skilfully  resisted  the 
motion,  and  of  the  three  hundred  and  twenty-nine 
members  who  were  present,  it  obtained  but  one  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  votes.' 

6.  On  the  next  day  the  office  of  closing  the  debate 
was  by  common  consent  assigned  to  Samuel  Still- 
man,  a  Baptist  minister  of  Boston.  Recapitulating 
and  weighing  the  arguments  of  each  side,  he  said, 
in  the  words  of  the  governor  of  Virginia ;  "  Cling  to 
the  union  as  the  rock  of  our  salvation,  and  finish  the 
salutary  work  which  hath  been  begun."  He  closed 
with  the  praise  of  education,  solid  learning,  ]3iety, 
and  morality,  as  the  life  and  soul  of  republican  gov- 
ernment and  liberty."  Before  putting  the  question, 
Hancock  spoke  words  that  were  remembered :  "  I 
give  my  assent  to  the  constitution  in  full  confidence 
that  the  amendments  proposed  will  soon  become  a 
part  of  the  system.     The  people  of  this  commou- 

*  Elliot,  ii.  101.  8  Elliot,  ii.  162. 

^  Elliot,  ii.  IGl,  162.  *  Elliot,  ii.  102-170. 


THE   CONSTITUTION    IN   MASSACHUSETTS.  273 

wealth  will  quietly  acquiesce  in  the  voice  of  the  ma-  chap. 
jority,  and,  where  they  see  a  want  of  perfection  in  — y-L. 
the  proposed  form  of  government,  endeavor,  in  a  con-  ^11^' 
Btitutional  way,  to  have  it  amended."  '  6. 

The  question  being  taken,  the  counties  of  Dukes, 
Essex,  Suffolk,  and  Plymouth,  and  in  Maine  of  Cum- 
berland and  Lincoln,  all  counties  that  touched  the 
sea,  gave  majorities  in  favor  of  the  constitution; 
Middlesex  and  Bristol,  the  whole  of  Massachusetts  to 
the  west  of  them,  and  the  county  of  York  in  Maine, 
gave  majorities  against  it.  The  majority  of  Maine 
for  the  constitution  was  in  proportion  gi'eater  than  in 
Massachusetts. 

The  motion  for  ratifying  the  constitution  was  de- 
clared to  be  in  the  affii'mative  by  one  hundred  and 
eighty-seven  votes  against  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight.*  The  bells  and  artillery  announced  the  glad 
news  to  every  part  of  the  town. 

With  the  declaration  of  the  vote,  every  symptom 
of  persistent  opposition  vanished.  No  person  even 
wished  for  a  protest.  The  convention,  after  dissolv- 
ing itself,  partook  of  a  modest  collation  in  the  senate 
chamber,  where,  merging  party  ideas  in  mutual  con- 
gratulations, they  all  "smoked  the  calumet  of  love 
and  union."  "  The  Boston  people,"  wrote  Knox  to 
Livingston,  "  have  lost  their  senses  with  joy." '  The 
Long  Lane  by  the  meeting-house,  in  which  the  con- 
vention held  its  sessions,  took  from  that  time  the 
name  of  Federal  street.  The  prevailing  joy  diffused 
itself  through  the  commonwealth.     In  New  York,  at 

'  Elliot,  ii.  174-176.  '  Knox  to  Livingston,  13  Feb., 

*  ElUot,  ii.  181.  1788. 

VOL.  n.  18 


274      THE  PEOPLE  IN  JUDGMENT  ON  TILE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  noon,  men  lioisted  the  pine-tree  flag  witli  an  appro- 

— r^  priate  inscription.     Six  states  liad  ratified,  and  six 

^  '^  ^  ^-  salutes,  eacli  of  thirteen  guns,  were  fired. 

The  example  of  Massachusetts  proved  worthy  of 
imitation.      "A  conditional  ratification  or  a  second 

April  convention,"  so  wrote  Madison  to  Randolph  in  April, 
"aj^pears  to  me  utterly  irreconcilable  with  the  dic- 
tates of  prudence  and  safety.  Recommendatory  al- 
terations are  the  only  ground  for  a  coalition  among 
the  real  federalists." ' 

Jefferson,  while  in  congress   as   the   successor  of 
Madison,  had  led  the  way  zealously  toward  render- 

11  SI.  ing  the  American  constitution  more  perfect."  " The 
30.'  federal  convention,"  so  he  wi'ote  to  one  correspond- 
ent on  hearing  who  were  its  members,  "  is  really 
an  assembly  of  demigods  ; " '  and  to  another :  "  It 
consists  of  the  ablest  men  in  America."  He  hoped 
fi'om  it  a  broader  reformation,  and  saw  mth  satis- 

Sept.  faction  "a  general  disposition  through  the  states  to 
adopt  what  it  should  propose."'  To  Washington 
he  soberly  expressed  the  opinions  from  which  dur- 

Aug.  ing  his  long  life  he  never  departed :  "  To  make  our 
states  one  as  to  all  foreign  concerns,  preserve  them 
several  as  to  all  rnerely  domestic,  to  give  to  the 
federal  head  some  peaceable  mode  of  enforcing  its 
just  authority,  to  organize  that  head  into  legislative, 
executive,  and  judiciary  departments,  are  great  de- 
siderata." ' 
Nov.  Early  in  November  Jefferson  received  a  copy  of 
the  new  constitution,  and  approved  the  great  mass  of 

'  Madison's  Works,  i.  38G,  and  »  JcfTorson,  ii.  200. 

Conij>ar(!  ;j7«-379.  *  JeiTorson,  ii.  149,  264. 

»  Jefferson,  i.  349.  »  Jefferson,  ii.  250,  251. 


JEFFEESON   Am)   ADAMS.  275 

its  provisions.'  But  once  lie  called  it  a  kite  set  up  chap. 
to  keep  the  lien-yard  in  order;'  and  witk  three  or  ^--v-^ 
four  new  articles  lie  would  have  preserved  the  vener-  ^^  ^  ^' 
able  fabric  of  tlie  old  confederation  as  a  sacred  relic.        i3. 

To  Madison "  he  explained  himself  in  a  long  and 
deliberate  letter.     A  house  of  representatives  elected 
dii'ectly  by  the  people  he  thought  would  be  far  infe- 
rior to  one  chosen  by  the  state  legislatures ;  but  he 
accepted  that  mode  of  election  from  respect  to  the 
fundamental  principle  that  the  people  are  not  to  be 
taxed  but  by  representatives  chosen  immediately  by 
themselves.     He  was  captivated  by  the  compromise 
between  the  great  and  smaller  states,  and  the  meth- 
od of  voting  in  both  branches  of  the  legislature  by 
persons  instead  of  voting  by  states ;  but  he  utterly 
condemned  the  omission  of  a  bill  of  rights,  and  the 
abandonment  of  the  principle  of  rotation  in  the  choice 
of  the  president.     Nor  was  he  "a  fiiend  to  a  veiy    Dec. 
enero;etic  o-overnment ; "  for  he  held  that  it  would  be 
"always  oppressive."     He  presumed  that  Virginia 
would  reject  the  new  constitution;*  for  himself  he 
said :  "  It  is  my  principle  that  the  will  of  the  major-     20. 
ity  should  prevail;   if   they  approve,  I  shall  cheer- 
fully concur  in  the  proposed  constitution,  in  hopes 
they  will  amend  it  whenever  they  shall  find  that  it 
works  vn:'onQ;."'    Two  months  later  he  wTote  to  Mad-  1  "jsa 
ison'  and  at  least  one  more  of  his  correspondents:      6. 
"  I  wish  v^dth  all  my  soul  that  the  nine  first  conven-      7. 
tions  may  accept  the  new  constitution,  to  secure  to 

*  Jefferson,  i.  79,  and  ii.  586.  "  Jefferson,  ii,  832. 

'  Jefferson,  ii.  319.  '  Jefferson  to  Madison,  6  Feb., 

^  Jefferson,  ii.  328-331.  1788.     MS. 

*  Jefferson,  ii.  325. 


276      THE  PEOPLE  m  JUDG^IENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION". 

CHAP.  US  the  good  it  contains ;  but  I  equally  wish  that  the 
^^^-^  four  latest,  whichever  they  may  be,  may  refuse  to 
1^?^-  accede  to  it  till  a  declaration  of  rights  be  annexed: 

Feb.  ,        .  *-•  ' 

''•      but  no  objection  to  the  new  form  must  produce  a 

schism  in  our  union."     This  was  the  last  word  from 

him  which  reached  America  in  time  to  have  any  in- 

May    fluence.      But  so  soon  as   he  heai'd  of  the  method 

27 

adopted  by  Massachusetts  he  declared  that  it  was  far 
preferable  to  his  own,  and  wished  it  to  be  followed 

July  by  every  state,  especially  by  Virginia.*  To  Madison 
he  said :  "  The  constitution  is  a  good  canvas  on  which 
some  strokes  only  want  retouching.'"'     To  a  friend 

17  8  9.  in  Philadelphia  he  wrote  with  perfect  tiiith :  "  I  am 
not  of  the  party  of  federalists ;  but  I  am  much  fur- 
ther from  that  of  the  anti-federalists." ' 

The  constitution  was  to  Adams  more  of  a  sui'prise 
than  to  Jefferson;  but  at  once  he  formed  his  un- 
changing judgment,  and  in  December,  1787,  he  wrote 
of  it  officially  to  Jay :  "  The  public  mind  cannot  be 
occupied  about  a  nobler  object  than  the  proposed 
plan  of  government.  It  appears  to  be  admii-ably 
calculated  to  cement  all  America  in  affection  and  in- 
terest, as  one  great  nation.  A  result  of  compromise 
cannot  perfectly  coincide  with  every  one's  ideas  of 
perfection ;  but,  as  aU  the  great  principles  necessary 
to  order,  liberty,  and  safety  are  respected  in  it,  and 
provision  is  made  for  amendments  as  they  may  be 
found  necessary,  I  hope  to  hear  of  its  adoption  by 
aU  the  states."  * 

>  Jellerson,  ii.  398,  399,  404.  *  John  Adams's  Works,  viii.  467 ; 

'  Jefferson,  ii.  445.  Dip.  Corr.,  v.  350. 

'  Jefferson,  ii.  585,  580. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  CONSTITUTION  IN  NEW  HAlVrPSHIRE,   MARYLAND, 
AND  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

Langdon,  the  outgoing  chief  magistrate  of  New  chap. 
Hampshire,  and  Sullivan,  his  successful  competitor,  J:^ 
vied  with  each  other  in  zeal  for  federal  measures ;  1 7  8  8. 

Feb. 

but  when  in  February,  1788,  the  convention  of  the 
state  came  together  there  appeared  to  be  a  small  ma- 
jority against  any  change.  In  a  seven  days'  debate, 
Joshua  Atherton,  of  Amherst ;  William  Hooper,  the 
minister  of  Marbury ;  Matthias  Stone,  deacon  of  the 
church  in  Claremont ;  Abiel  Parker,  from  Jaffrey,  re- 
produced the  objections  that  had  been  urged  in  the 
neighboring  state ;  while  John  Sullivan,  John  Lang- 
don,  Samuel  Livermore,  Josiah  Bartlett,  and  John 
Pickering  explained  and  defended  it  with  concilia- 
tory moderation.  When  zealots  complained  of  the 
want  of  a  religious  test,  Samuel  Langdon,  lately 
president  of  Harvard  College,  but  now  a  minister  of 
the  gospel  at  Hampton  Falls,  demonstrated  that  re- 
ligion is  a  question  between  God  and  man  in  which 
no  civil  authority  may  interfere.  Dow,  from  Weare, 
spoke  against  the  twenty  years'  sufferance  of  the  for- 


278      THE  PEOPLE  m  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  eign  slave-trade ;  and  to  the  explanation  of  Langdon 
that  under  the  confederation  the  power  exists  with- 
out limit,  Atherton  answered :  "  It  is  our  full  purpose 
to  wash  oui'  hands  clear  of  becoming  its  guarantees 
even  for  a  term  of  years." 

The  fiiends  of  the  constitution  won  converts 
enough  to  hold  the  balance ;  but  these  were  fet- 
tered by  instructions  from  their  towns.  To  give 
them  an  opj^ortunity  to  consult  their  constituents, 
the  friends  of  the  constitution  proposed  an  adjourn- 
ment till  June ;  saying,  with  other  reasons,  that  it 
would  be  very  prudent  for  a  small  state  like  New 
Hampshire  to  wait  and  see  what  the  other  states 
would  do.  This  was  the  argniment  which  had  the 
greatest  weight.'  The  place  of  meeting  was  changed 
from  Exeter,  a  stronghold  of  federalism,  to  Concord ; 
and  the  adjournment  was  then  carried  by  a  slender 
majority.' 

^^^^J-  The  assembly  of  Maryland  in  November,  1787, 
summoned  its  delegates  to  the  federal  convention  to 
give  them  information  of  its  proceedings ;  and  Martin 
rehearsed  to  them  and  published  to  the  world  his 
three  days'  arraignment  of  that  body  for  having  ex- 
ceeded its  authority.  He  was  answered  by  McHenry, 
who,  by  a  concise  analysis  of  the  constitution,  drew 
to  himseK  the  sympathy  of  his  hearers.  The  legisla- 
ture unanimously  ordered  a  convention  of  the  people 
of  the  state ;  it  copied  the  example  set  by  Virginia  of 
leaving  the  door  open  for  amendments ; '  and  by  a 
majority  of  one  the  day  for  the  choice,  and  the  day 

'  Report  in  the  IVIass.  Spy,  co])iecl  '  Ind.  Gazetteer,  17  March,  1788. 
into  Ind.  Gazetteer  of  9  April,  °  ]\Iadisou  to  Jefferson,  9  Dec., 
1788.  1787  ;  Madison,  i.  303,  304. 


Nov. 


THE   CONSTITUTION   IN   MARYLAND.  279 

for  the  meeting  of  its  convention,  were  postponed  till  chap. 
the  next  April.  ^-^ 

The  long  delay  gave  opportunity  for  the  cabalings  1 7  8  7. 
of  the  anti-federalists  in  Virginia.'  Richard  H.  Lee 
was  as  zealous  as  ever ;  and  Patrick  Henry  dissemi- 
nated propositions  for  a  southern  confederacy ; '  but 
Washington,  who  felt  himself  at  home  on  the  Mary- 
land side  of  the  Potomac,  toiled  fearlessly  and  faith- 
fully, with  Madison  at  his  side,  for  the  immediate 
and  unconditioned  ratification  of  the  constitution  by 
the  South. 

Charles  Carter,  of  Virginia,  had  written  a  congrat- 
ulatory letter  to  Washington  as  president  of  the  late 
federal  convention;  there  soon  appeared  in  the  news- 
papers his  reply,  all  the  more  interesting  because 
written  mth  unguarded  frankness:  "My  decided 
opinion  is,  that  there  is  no  alternative  between  the 
adoption  of  the  proceedings  of  the  convention  and 
anarchy.  If  one  state,  however  important  it  may 
conceive  itself  to  be,"  meaning  Virginia,  "  or  a  minority 
of  them  should  suppose  that  they  can  dictate  a  con- 
stitution to  the  union  (unless  they  have  the  power  of 
applying  the  ultima  ratio  to  good  effect),  they  will 
find  themselves  deceived.  All  the  opposition  to  it 
that  I  have  yet  seen  is  addressed  more  to  the  passions 
than  to  reason ;  and  clear  I  am,  if  another  federal 
convention  is  attempted,  that  the  sentiments  of  the 
members  will  be  more  discordant  or  less  accommo- 
dating than  the  last.  In  fine,  they  will  agree  upon  no 
general  plan.     General  government  is  now  suspended 

^  Letters    to    Washington,    iv.        ^  This  is  repeatedly  told  of  Henry 
196.  by  Carrington. 


280     THE  PEOPLE  IN  JUDGJIENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  by  a  thread ;  I  miglit  go  further,  and  say  it  is  really 
— A-  at  an  end ;  and  what  will  be  the  consequence  of  a 
^l^''-  fruitless  attempt  to  amend  the  one  which  is  offered, 
before  it  is  tried,  or  of  the  delay  of  the  attempt,  does 
not,  in  my  judgment,  need  the  gift  of  prophecy  to  pre- 
dict. The  constitution  or  disunion  is  before  us  to 
choose  from.  If  the  first  is  our  election,  when  the 
defects  of  it  are  experienced,  a  constitutional  door  is 
opened  for  amendments,  and  may  be  adopted  in  a 
peaceable  manner,  without  tumult  or  disorder." ' 

In  the  three  months'  interval  before  the  election, 
the  fields  and  forests  and  towns  of  Maryland  were 
alive  with  thought ;  the  merits  of  the  constitution 
17  8  8.  were  scanned  and  sifted  in  every  public  meeting  and 
at  every  hearth ;  and  on  the  day  for  choosing  dele- 
gates, each  voter,  in  designating  the  candidate  of  his 
preference,  registered  his  own  deliberate  decision. 
In  fifteen  counties,  and  the  cities  of  Baltimore  and 
Annapolis,  there  was  no  diversity  of  sentiment.  Two 
counties  only  returned  none  but  anti-federalists ;  Har- 
ford county  elected  thi^ee  of  that  party  and  one 
trimmer. 
April  The  day  before  the  convention  was  to  assemble, 
Washington,  guarding  against  the  only  danger  that 
remained,  addressed  a  well-considered  letter  to  Thom- 
as Johnson:  "An  adjournment  of  your  convention 
will  be  tantamount  to  the  rejection  of  the  constitu- 
tion. It  cannot  be  too  much  deprecated  and  guarded 
against.  Great  use  is  made  of  the  postponement  in 
New  Hampshire,  although  it  has  no  reference  to  the 

»  Washington  to  Charles  Carter,  14  Dec.,  1787;  Penn.  Packet,  11 
Jan.,  1788. 


THE   CONSTITTTION   m   MARYLAND.  281 

convention  of  this  state.     An  event  similar  to  this  in  chap. 

Maryland  would  have   the  worst  tendency  imagin-  ^ 

able ;  for  indecision  there  would  certainly  have  con-  y  ^  8. 
siderable  influence  upon  South  Carolina,  the  only  20. 
other  state  which  is  to  precede  Virginia ;  and  it  sub- 
mits the  question  almost  wholly  to  the  determination 
of  the  latter.  The  pride  of  the  state  is  already 
touched,  and  will  be  raised  much  higher  if  there  is 
fresh  cause."  * 

The  advice,  which  was  confirmed  by  similar  letters 
from  Madison,  was  communicated  to  several  of  the 
members ;  so  that  the  healing  influence  of  Virginia 
proved  greater  than  its  power  to  wound.  But  the 
men  of  Maryland  of  themselves  knew  their  duty,  and 
Washington's  advice  was  but  an  encouragement  for 
them  to  proceed  in  the  way  which  they  had  chosen. 

On  Monday,  the  twenty-first  of  April,  a  quomm  of  21. 
the  convention  assembled  at  Annapolis.  The  settle- 
ment of  representation  in  the  two  branches  of  the 
federal  legislature  was  pleasing  to  all  the  representa- 
tives of  fifteen  counties,  and  the  cities  of  Baltimore 
and  Annapolis  agreed  with  each  other  perfectly  that 
the  main  question  had  ali*eady  been  decided  by  the 
people  in  their  respective  counties ;  and  that  the 
ratification  of  the  constitution,  the  single  transaction 
for  which  they  were  convened,  ought  to  be  speedily 
completed.  Two  days  were  given  to  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  house  and  establishing  rules  for  its  gov- 
ernment ;  on  the  third  the  constitution  was  read  a 

>  Washington  to  Thomas  John-  McHenry,    27   April,    1788,   MS. ; 

son,  20  April,  1788;   T.  Johnson  to  Daniel  of  St.  Thomas  Jenifer, 

to    Washington,    10    Oct.,    1788.  27   April,    1788,    MS.;   to   Jame3 

Compare    Washington    to    James  Madison,  2  May,  1788,  MS. 


282      TIIE  PEOPLE  LN"  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  first  time,  and   tlie   motion  for  its  ratification  was 

IV 

s--v^  formally  made.  Tlie  plan  of  a  confederacy  of  slave- 
V  rif "  folding  states  found  not  one  su^^porter ;  not  one 
21.  suggested  an  adjournment  for  the  pm^^ose  of  consul- 
tation with  Vii'ginia.  The  malcontents  could  embar- 
rass the  convention  only  by  proposing  pernicious 
amendments. 
24.  On  the  morning  of  the  fourth  day  Samuel  Chase 
took  his  seat,  and  at  the  second  reading  of  the  con- 
stitution began  from  elaborate  notes  the  fiercest  oppo- 
sition :  The  powers  to  be  vested  in  the  new  govern- 
ment are  deadly  to  the  cause  of  liberty,  and  should 
be  amended  before  adoption;  five  states  can  now 
force  a  concession  of  amendments  which  after  the 
national  government  shall  go  into  operation  could  be 
carried  only  by  nine.'  He  spoke  till  he  was  exhaust- 
ed, intending  to  resume  his  argument  on  the  follow- 
ing day. 

In  the  afternoon,  William  Paca,  of  Harford  coun- 
ty, a  signer  of  the  declaration  of  independence,  ap- 
peared for  the  first  time  and  sought  to  steer  between 
the  clashing  opinions,  saying :  "  I  have  a  variety  of 
objections ;  not  as  conditions,  but  to  accompany  the 
ratification  as  standing  instructions  to  the  representa- 
tives of  Maryland  in  congress."  To  Johnson  the  re- 
quest seemed  candid  ;  and  on  his  motion  the  conven- 
tion adjourned  to  the  next  morning.*  The  interval 
was  employed  in  preparing  a  set  of  amendments  to 
the  constitution,  which  were  adapted  to  injure  the 
cause  of  federalism  in  Virginia.' 

'  Notes  of  Chase  on  tlie  consti-        "  Ilanson's  MS.  narrative, 
tution,  ]\I8. ;  and  tlie  liistoriciil  ad-         *  James   McIIenry  to  Wasliing- 
dreas  of  Alex,  C.  Uauson,  MS.  ton,  18  May,  1788.     MS. 


THE   CONSTITUTION   IN   MAEYLAND.  283 

On  Friday  morning,  a  member  from  each,  of  eleven  cn^iP. 
several  counties  and  the  two  cities,  one  after  the  >— v-^ 
other,  declared   "  that  he  and  his   colleas-ues  were  ^!J  ^.^ 

'  ,         .  •=>  April 

under  an  obligation  to  vote  for  the  government;"  25. 
and  almost  all  declared  fui-ther  that  they  had  no 
authority  to  propose  amendments  which  theii'  con- 
stituents had  never  considered,  and  of  coui^se  could 
never  have  dii^ected/  When  Paca  began  to  read 
his  amendments,  he  was  called  to  order  by  George 
Gale,  of  Somerset  county,  the  question  before  the 
house  being  still  "on  the  ratification  of  the  consti- 
tution." Chase  once  more  "made  a  display  of  all  his 
eloquence ; "  John  F.  Mercer  discharged  his  whole 
"  artillery  of  inflammable  matter ; "  and  Martin  rioted 
in  boisterous  "  vehemence  ;  "  "  but  no  converts  were 
made  ;  no,  not  one." " 

The  fi'iends  to  the  federal  government  "  remained 
inflexibly  silent."  The  malcontents  having  tired 
themselves  out,  between  two  and  thi'ee  o'clock  on 
Satui'day,  the  twenty-sixth,  the  constitution  was  rati-  26. 
fled  by  sixty-three  votes  against  eleven,  Paca  voting 
with  the  majority.  Proud  of  its  great  majority  of 
nearly  six  to  one,  the  convention  fixed  Monday,  at 
three  o'clock,  for  the  time  when  they  would  all  set 
theii'  names  to  the  instrument  of  ratification. 

Paca  then  brought  forward  his  numerous  amend- 
ments, saying  that  -with  them  his  constituents  would 
receive  the  constitution,  without  them  would  oppose 
it  even  with  arms."  After  a  short  but  perplexed  de- 
bate he  was  indulged  in  the  appointment  of  a  com- 

'  Alex,  C.  Hanson.     MS.     El-        ""  Washington  to  Madison,  2  May, 
liot,  ii.  548.  1788.     MS. 

'  Hanson.     MS. 


284      THE  PEOPLE  m  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTIOlSr. 

CEAP.  mittee  of  tliii'teen,  of  wliicli  lie  liimself  was  the  chair- 

IV 

v-^  man ;  but  they  had  power  only  to  recommend  amend- 
y  rif "  ^^^^®  "^^  "t^®  consideration  of  the  people  of  Maryland. 
^•3.     The  majority  of  the  committee  readily  acceded  to 
thii'teen  resolutions,  explaining  the  constitution  ac- 
cording to  the  construction  of  its  friends,  and  re- 
straining congi'ess   fi'om   exercising   power  not   ex- 
pressly delegated.     The  minority  demanded  more ; 
the  committee  fell  into  a  wrangle ;  the  convention  on 
23.     IMonday  sent  a  summons  for  them ;  and  Paca,  taking 
the   side  of   the   minority,  would   make  no  report. 
Thereupon  the  convention  dissolved  itseK  by  a  gi'eat 
majority. 

The  accession  of  Maryland  to  the  new  union  by  a 
vote  of  nearly  six  to  one  brought  to  the  constitution 
the  majority  of  the  thirteen  United  States,  and  a 
great  majority  of  their  free  inhabitants.  The  state 
which  was  cradled  in  religious  liberty  gained  the  un- 
disputed victory  over  the  first  velleity  of  the  slave- 
holding  states  to  form  a  separate  confederacy.  "  It 
is  a  thorn  in  the  sides  of  the  leaders  of  opposition  in 
this  state ! "  ^\Tote  Washington  to  Madison.'  His 
words  of  congratulation  to  Jenifer,  of  Maryland, 
were :  "  Seven  affirmative  without  a  nescative  would 
almost  convert  the  unerring  sister.  The  fiat  of  your 
convention  will  most  assuredly  raise  the  edifice."  ' 

In  his  hours  of  meditation  he  saw  the  movement  of 
the  divine  power  which  gives  unity  to  the  universe, 
and  order  and  connection  to  events :  "  It  is  impracti- 
cable for  any  one  who  has  not  been  on  the  spot  to 

*  Washington     to    Madison,    3        ^  Washington  to   Daniel   of  St. 
May,  17«8.     MS.  Thomas  Jenifer,  27  April,  1788.  MS. 


THE   CONSTITTTION   m   SOUTH    CAEOLmA.  235 

realize  tlie  change  in  men's  minds,  and  tlie  progress  chap. 
toward  rectitude  in  thinking  and  acting.  >— ^^ 

"  The  plot  thickens  fast.  A  few  short  weeks  will  ^  ^.^• 
determine  the  political  fate  of  America  for  the  pres-  2s. 
ent  generation,  and  probably  produce  no  small  influ- 
ence on  the  hapf)iness  of  society  through  a  long  suc- 
cession of  ages  to  come.  Should  everything  proceed 
with  harmony  and  consent  according  to  our  actual 
wishes  and  expectations,  it  will  be  so  much  beyond 
anything  we  had  a  right  to  imagine  or  expect  eigh- 
teen months  ago  that  it  will,  as  visibly  as  any  possi- 
ble event  in  the  course  of  human  affairs,  demonstrate 
the  finger  of  Providence."  * 

In  South  Carolina  the  new  constitution  awakened 
fears  of  oppressive  navigation  acts  and  of  disturbance 
in  the  ownership  of  slaves.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
upper  country,  who  suffered  from  the  undue  legisla- 
tive power  of  the  city  of  Charleston  and  the  lower 
counties,  foreboded  new  inequalities  from  a  consolida- 
tion of  the  union.  A  part  of  the  low  country,  still 
suffering  from  the  war,  had  shared  the  rage  for  instal- 
ment laws,  paper  money,  and  payment  of  debts  by 
appraised  property ;  and  to  all  these  the  new  consti- 
tution made  an  end. 

The  opposition  from  Virginia*  intrigued  for  a 
southern  confederacy,  while  Madison,  in  entire  unison 
with  Washington,  wrote  to  his  fiiends  in  behalf  of 
union.'  They  both  knew  that  there  was  to  be  resist- 
ance to  the  constitution,  with  Rawlins  Lowndes  for 

^  Washington  to  the  Marquis  de  propositions  there  for  a  southern 

la  Fayette,  28  May,  1788.     MS,  confederacy." 

-  Jefferson'  to  Shippen,  14  July,  °  Madison    to    Washinorton,    10 

1788.     *':&Ir.  Henry  disseminated  April,  1788.     Works,  i.  384,  385. 


286      THE  PEOPLE  EN  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  its  spokesman ;  and  as  lie  could  by  no  possibility  be 
elected  into  the  convention,  the  chief  scene  of  the 
opposition  could  only  be  the  legislature/ 

In  January,  1788,  the  senate  unanimously  voted 
thanks  to  the  members  from  their  state  in  the  fed- 
eral convention  for  their  faithfulness.  On  the  six- 
teenth, in  the  committee  of  the  whole  house  of  rep- 
resentatives, Charles  Pinckney  gave  a  history*  of 
the  formation  and  the  character  of  "  the  federal  re- 
public ; "  which  was  to  operate  upon  the  people  and 
not  upon  the  states.  At  once  Lowndes'  objected 
that  the  interests  of  South  Carolina  were  endanscered 
by  the  clause  in  the  constitution  according  to  which 
a  treaty  to  be  made  by  two  thirds  of  the  senate,  and 
a  president  who  was  not  likely  ever  to  be  chosen 
from  South  Carolina  or  Georgia,  would  be  the  su- 
preme law  of  the  land.  Cotesworth  Pinckney  con- 
demned the  reasoning  as  disingenuous.  "Every 
treaty,"  said  John  Kutledge,  "  is  law  paramount  and 
must  operate,"  *  not  less  under  the  confederation  than 
under  the  constitution.^  "  If  treaties  are  not  superior 
to  local  laws,"  asked  Ramsay,  "  who  mil  trust  them  ? " ' 
Lowndes  proceeded,  saying  of  the  confederation: 
"  We  are  now  under  a  most  excellent  constitution — a 
blessing  from  Heaven,  that  has  stood  the  test  of  time, 
and  given  us  liberty  and  independence ;  yet  we  are 
impatient  to  pull  down  that  fabric  which  we  raised  at 
the  expense  of  our  blood." '  Now,  Rawlins  Lo^vndes 
had   pertinaciously  resisted  the  declaration  of  inde- 

'  ^raflison,  i.  383.  "  Elliot,  iv.  308. 

»  I-:iliot,  iv.  25:3-363.  "  Elliot,  iv.  270. 

»  Elliot,  iv.  203-205.  ''  Elliot,  iv.  271,  273. 
*  Elliot,  iv.  207. 


THE   CONSTITUTION   IN   SOUTH   CAEOLINA.  287 

pendence;  and,  wlien  in   1778   South  Carolina  had  chap. 
made  him  her  governor,  had  in  her  reverses  sought  -^^^^ 
British  protection.     He  proceeded  :  "When  this  new  ^J^^- 
constitution  shall  be  adopted,  the  sun  of  the  southern     ig. 
states  will  set,  never  to  rise  again.     What  cause  is 
there  for  jealousy  of  our  importing  negroes  ?     Why 
confine  us  to  twenty  years  ?     Why  limit  us  at  all  ? 
This  trade  can  be  justified  on  the  principles  of  relig- 
ion and  humanity.     They  do  not  like  our  slaves  be- 
cause they  have  none  themselves,  and,  therefore,  want 
to  exclude  us  from  this  great  advantage." 

"  Every  state,"  interposed  Pendleton,  "  has  prohib- 
ited the  importation  of  negroes  except  Georgia  and 
the  two  Carolinas." 

Lowndes  continued  :  "  Without  negi'oes  this  state 
would  degenerate  into  one  of  the  most  contemptible 
in  the  union.  Negroes  are  our  wealth,  our  only  nat- 
ural resource  ;  yet  our  kind  friends  in  the  North  are 
determined  soon  to  tie  up  our  hands,  and  drain  us  of 
what  we  have." 

"Against  the  restrictions  that  might  be  laid  on  the 
African  trade  after  the  year  1808,"  said  Cotesworth 
Pinckney,  "  your  delegates  had  to  contend  with  the 
religious  and  political  prejudices  of  the  eastern  and 
middle  states,  and  with  the  interested  and  inconsist- 
ent opinion  of  Virginia.  It  was  alleged  that  slaves 
increase  the  weakness  of  any  state  which  admits 
them ;  that  an  invading  enemy  could  easily  turn 
them  against  ourselves  and  the  neighboring  states ; 
and  that,  as  we  are  allowed  a  representation  for  them, 
our  influence  in  government  would  be  increased  in 
proportion  as  we  were  less  able  to  defend  ourselves. 


288      THE  PEOPLE  m  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

'  Sliow  some  period,'  said  the  members  from  the  east- 
ern states,  '  when  it  may  be  in  our  power  to  put  a 
^jan^"  ^^^P>  ^  ^^  please,  to  the  importation  of  this  weak- 
16.  ness,  and  we  will  endeavor,  for  your  convenience,  to 
restrain  the  religious  and  political  prejudices  of  our 
people  on  this  subject.'  The  middle  states  and  Vir- 
ginia made  us  no  such,  proposition ;  they  were  for  an 
immediate  and  total  prohibition.  A  committee  of 
the  states  was  appointed  in  order  to  accommodate 
this  matter,  and,  after  a  great  deal  of  difficulty, 
it  was  settled  on  the  footing  recited  in  the  constitu- 
tion. 

"By  this  settlement  we  have  secured  an  unlimited 
importation  of  negroes  for  twenty  years.  The  gen- 
eral government  can  never  emancipate  them,  for  no 
such  authority  is  granted,  and  it  is  admitted  on  all 
hands  that  the  general  government  has  no  powers 
but  what  are  expressly  granted  by  the  constitution. 
We  have  obtained  a  right  to  recover  our  slaves  in 
whatever  part  of  America  they  may  take  refuge, 
which  is  a  right  we  had  not  before.  In  short,  con- 
sidering all  circumstances,  we  have  made  the  best 
terms  in  our  power  for  the  security  of  this  species  of 
property.  We  would  have  made  better  if  we  could  ; 
but,  on  the  whole,  I  do  not  think  them  bad." ' 

"  Six  of  the  seven  eastern  states,"  continued 
Lowndes,  "  form  a  majority  in  the  house  of  representa- 
tives. Their  interest  will  so  predominate  as  to  divest 
us  of  any  pretensions  to  the  title  of  a  republic.  They 
draw  their  subsistence,  in  a  great  measure,  from  their 
shipping ;    the  regulation  of   our  commerce  thi'ows 

»  Elliot,  iv.  277-28G. 


TIIE    CONSTITUTION   IN    SOUTH    CAROLINA.  289 

into  tlieir  hands  the  carrying  trade  under  payment  of  chap. 
whatever  freightage  they  think  proper  to  impose.'  s.-^^ 
Why  should  the  southern  states  allow  this  without  ^7,^^- 
the  consent  of  nine  states  ?     If  at  any  future  period     i6. 
we  should  remonstrate,  '  mind  your  business '  will  be 
the  style  of  language  held  out  toward  the  southern 
states."     "  The  fears  that  the  northern  interests  will 
prevail  at  all  times,"  said  Edward  Rutledge,  "  are  ill- 
founded.      Carry   your   views   into    futurity.      The 
northern  states  are  already  full  of  people  ;  the  migra- 
tions to  the  South  are  immense ;  in  a  few  years  we 
shall   rise   high   in   our  representation,  while  other 
states  will  keep  their  present  position."  * 

The  argument  of  Lowndes  rested  on  the  idea  that  iv. 
the  southern  states  are  weak.  "  We  are  weak," 
said  Cotesworth  Pinckney ;  "  by  ourselves  we  cannot 
form  a  union  strong  enough  for  the  purpose  of  ef- 
fectually protecting  each  other.  Without  union  with 
the  other  states.  South  Carolina  must  soon  fall.  Is 
there  any  one  among  us  so  much  a  Quixote  as  to  sup- 
pose that  this  state  could  long  maintain  her  indepen- 
dence if  she  stood  alone,  or  was  only  connected  with 
the  southern  states  ?  I  scarcely  believe  there  is.  As, 
from  the  nature  of  our  climate  and  the  fewness  of 
our  inhabitants,  we  are  undoubtedly  weak,  should  we 
not  endeavor  to  form  a  close  union  ^\ath  the  eastern 
states,  who  are  strong  ?  We  certainly  ought  to  en- 
deavor to  increase  that  species  of  strength  which  mil 
render  them  of  most  service  to  us  both  in  peace  and 
war.  I  mean  their  navy.  Justice  to  them  and  hu- 
manity, interest  and  policy,  concur  in  prevailing  upon 

'  Elliot,  iv.  288.  "  Elliot,  iv.  276,  277. 

VOL.    II.  19 


290      THE  PEOPLE  n«"  JUDGMENT  01^  THE  CONSTITUTIOIf. 

CHAP.  US  to  submit  tlie  regulation  of  commerce  to  the  gen- 

-^-^  eral  government."  * 

17  88.  Lo^Yndes  renewed  liis  eulogy  on  the  old  confedera- 
ls, tion.  "  The  men  who  signed  it  were  eminent  for  pa- 
triotism and  virtue  ;  and  theu^  wisdom  and  prudence 
particularly  appear  in  their  care  sacredly  to  guarantee 
the  sovereignty  of  each  state.  The  treaty  of  peace 
expressly  agreed  to  acknowledge  us  fi-ee,  sovereign, 
and  independent  states ;  but  this  new  constitution, 
being  sovereign  over  all,  sweeps  those  privileges 
away. 
18.  Cotesworth  Pinckney  answered  :  "  We  were  inde- 
pendent before  the  treaty,  which  does  not  grant,  but 
acknowledges  our  independence.  We  ought  to  date 
that  invaluable  blessing^  from  a  much  older  charter 
than  the  treaty  of  peace ;  from  a  charter  which  our 
babes  should  be  taught  to  lisp  in  their  cradles ;  which 
our  youth  should  learn  as  a  carinen  necessai'ium,  or 
indispensable  lesson ;  which  our  young  men  should 
regard  as  their  compact  of  freedom  ;  and  which  our 
old  should  repeat  with  ejaculations  of  gratitude  for 
the  bounties  it  is  about  to  bestow  on  theii*  posterity. 
I  mean  the  declaration  of  independence,  made  in 
congress  the  4th  of  July,  177G.  This  admirable 
manifesto,  which  for  importance  of  matter  and  ele- 
gance of  composition  stands  unrivalled,  sufficiently 
confutes  the  honorable  gentleman's  doctrine  of  the 
individual  sovereignty  and  independence  of  the  sev- 
eral states. 

"  The  separate  independence  and  individual  sover- 
eignty of  the  several  states  were  never  tliought  of  by 

» Elliot,  iv.  283,  284.  "  ElUot,  iv.  287. 


THE    CONSTITUTION   IN    SOUTH    CAEOLINA.  291 

the  enlightened  band  of   patriots   who  framed  this  chap. 
declaration.     The  several  states  are  not  even  men-  v_^ 
tioned  by  name  in  any  part  of  it ;  as  if  to  impress  on  ^j^^^^' 
America   that  our  freedom  and  independence  arose     is. 
from  om'  union,  and  that  without  it  we  could  neither 
be  free  nor  independent.     Let  us,  then,  consider  all 
attempts  to  weaken  this  union  by  maintaining  that 
each  state  is  separately  and  individually  independent, 
as  a  species  of  political  heresy  which  can  never  bene- 
fit us,  but  may  bring  on  us  the  most  serious  dis- 
tresses." * 

Lowndes  sought  to  rally  to  his  side  the  friends  of 
paj)er  money,  and  asked  triumphantly :  "  What  harm 
has  paper  money  done  ? "  "  What  harm  ? "  retorted 
Cotesworth  Pinckney.  "  Beyond  losses  by  deprecia- 
tion, paper  money  has  corrupted  the  morals  of  the 
people ;  has  diverted  them  from  the  paths  of  honest 
industry  to  the  ways  of  ruinous  speculation ;  has  de- 
stroyed both  public  and  private  credit;  and  has 
brought  total  ruin  on  numberless  widows  and  or- 
phans." ' 

James  Lincoln,  of  Ninety-six,  pressed  the  objection 
that  the  constitution  contained  no  bill  of  rights." 
Cotesworth  Pinckney  answered :  "  By  delegating  ex- 
press powers,  we  certainly  reserve  to  ourselves  every 
power  and  right  not  mentioned  in  the  constitution. 
Another  reason  weighed  particularly  with  the  mem- 
bers from  this  state.  Bills  of  rights  generally  begin 
with  declaring  that  all  men  are  by  nature  bom  free. 
Now,  we  should  make  that  declaration  with  a  very 

'  Elliot,  iv.  301,  303.  '  Elliot,  iv.  313. 

«  Elliot,  iv.  306. 


292      THE  PEOPLE  IN  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  bad  grace  when  a  large  part  of  our  property  consists 
in  men  who  are  actually  born  slaves."  * 

Lo\vndes,  following  the  desii'e  of  tlie  opposition  of 
Viro;inia,  had  recommended  another  convention  in 
which  every  objection  could  be  met  on  fair  grounds, 
and  adequate  remedies  applied.''  The  proposal  found 
no  acceptance ;  but  he  persevered  in  cavilling  and  ob- 
is, jecting.  At  last  John  Rutledge  impatiently  expressed 
a  hope  that  Lownides  would  find  a  seat  in  the  coming 
convention,  and  pledged  himself  there  to  prove  that 
all  those  grounds  on  which  he  dwelt  amounted  to  no 
more  than  mere  declamation ;  that  his  boasted  confed- 
eration was  not  worth  a  farthing;  that  if  such  in- 
struments were  piled  up  to  his  chin  they  would  not 
shield  him  from  one  single  national  calamity ;  that 
the  sun  of  this  state,  so  far  from  being  obscured 
by  the  new  constitution,  would,  when  united  with 
twelve  other  suns,  astonish  the  world  by  its  lustre.' 

The  resolution  for  a  convention  to  consider  the 
constitution  was  unanimously  adopted.*  In  the  ri- 
valry between  Charleston  and  Columbia  as  its  place 
of  meeting,  Charleston  carried  the  day  by  a  majority 
of  one  vote.* 

The  purest  spii'it  of  patriotism  and  union  and  ven- 
eration for  the  men  of  the  revolution  pervaded  South 
Carolina  at  the  time  of  her  clioice  of  delegates. 
Foremost  amonG^  them  were  the  venerable  Christo- 
pher  Gadsden  and  John  Rutledge,  Moultrie  and 
Motte,  William  AVashington,  Edward  Rutledge,  the 
thi'ee  Pinckneya,  Grimkc,  and  Ramsay ;  the  chancel- 

»  Elliot,  iv.  315,  310.  *  Elliot,  iv.  316. 

^  Klliot,  iv.  2!m.  *  Elliot,  iv.  317. 

»  Klliot,  iv.  312. 


THE    CONSTITUTION    IN    SOUTH    CAEOLINA.  293 

lor  and  tlie  leading  judges  of  the  state ;  men  chiefly  chap. 
of  English,  Scotch,  Scotch-Irish,  and  Huguenot  de-  — ^ 
scent ;  a  thorough  representation  of  the  best  ele-  i  "^  ^  8, 
ments  and  culture  of  South  Carolina. 

The  convention  orc!:anized  itself  on  the  thirteenth  of    May 

13 

May,'  with  Thomas  Pinckney,  then  Governor  of  South 
Carolina,  as  president.  The  ablest  man  in  the  oppo- 
sition was  Edanus  Burke  ;  but  the  leader  in  support 
of  the  Yir2:inia  malcontents  was  Sumter.  A  week's 
quiet  consideration  of  the  constitution  by  paragraphs 
showed  the  disposition  of  the  convention,  when  on  21. 
the  twenty-first  Sumter,  as  a  last  effort  of  those  who 
wished  to  act  with  Virginia,  made  a  motion  for  an 
adjournment  for  five  months,  to  give  time  for  the 
further  consideration  of  the  federal  convention."  A 
few  gave  way  to  the  hope  of  conciliating  by  modera- 
tion ;  but  after  debate  the  motion  received  only 
eighty -nine  votes  against  one  hundi^ed  and  thirty-five.' 
Three  or  four  amendments  were  recommended ;  and 
then,  at  five  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  the  twenty-  23. 
thii'd,  the  constitution  was  ratified  by  one  hundred 
and  forty -nine  votes  against  seventy-three — more  than 
two  to  one."  As  the  count  was  declared,  the  dense 
crowd  in  attendance,  carried  away  by  a  wild  trans- 
port of  joy,  shook  the  air  with  their  cheers. 

"When  order  was  restored,  the  aged  Christopher 
Gadsden  said :  "  I  can  have  but  little  expectation  of 
seeing  the  happy  effects  that  will  result  to  my  coun- 
try from  the  wise  decisions  of  this  day,  but  I  shall 
say  with  good  old  Simeon :  Lord,  now  lettest  thou 

»  Elliot,  iv.  318.  '  Elliot,  iv.  338. 

"  Elliot,  iv.  838.  "  Elliot,  iv.  338-340. 


294      THE  PEOPLE  EST  JUDGMET^T  ON  THE  COISTSTITUTIOK 

CHAP,  tliy  servant  depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes  liave  seen 
tlie  salvation  of  my  country."  * 

Tlie  delegates  of  South  Carolina  to  the  federal 
convention  received  a  vote  of  thanks.  Those  in  the 
opposition  promised  as  good  citizens  to  accept  the 
result.  In  1765  South  Carolina  was  one  of  the  nine 
states  to  meet  in  convention  for  resistance  to  the 
stamp  act ;  and  now  she  was  the  eighth  state  of  the 
nine  required  for  the  adoption  of  the  constitution. 

AVhen  the  astonishing  tidings  reached  New  Hamp- 
shire, her  people  grew  restless  to  be  the  state  yet 
needed  to  assure  the  new  bond  of  union ;  but  for  that 
palm  she  must  run  a  race  with  Virginia. 

»  Pcnn.  Packet,  14  June,  1788. 


CHAPTER  y. 

THE   CONSTITUTION    IN  VIRGINIA   AND   IN   NEW   HAMP- 
SHIRE. 

Feom  Virginia  proceeded  the  soutliern  opposition  chap. 
to  the  consolidation  of  the  union.     A  strife  in  con-  .^^ 
gress,  in  which  the  North  was  too  much  in  the  wrong 
to  succeed,  united  the  five  southernmost  states  togeth- 
er in  a  struggle  which  endangered  the  constitution. 

In  May,  1785,  Diego  Gardoqui  arrived,  charged  ^^^^^• 
with  the  affairs  of  Spain,  and  seemingly  empowered 
to  fix  the  respective  limits  and  adjust  other  points  * 
between  two  countries  which  bordered  on  each  other 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  headspring  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. Negotiations  began :  but  Jay  was  required  by  July 
congress  to  submit  to  them  every  proposition  made  or 
received,  to  sign  no  treaty  without  their  previous 
approval,  to  maintain  the  territorial  bounds  of  the 
United  States  as  set  forth  in  the  treaty  of  peace  with 
England,  and  to  assert  the  right  of  the  free  naviga- 
tion of  the  Mississippi  from  its  source  to  the  ocean.* 
Jay  held  the  friendship  of  Spain  most  desirable  as  a 

'  Dip.   Cor.,  vi.  81-97.      Secret        '  Secret  Journals,  iii.  586. 
Journals,  iii.  569,  570. 


296      THE  PEOPLE  EST  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

neiglibor ;  as  a  force  tliat  could  protect  the  United 
States  fi'om  tlie  piracies  of  tlie  Barbary  powers  and 
conciliate  tlie  good- will  of  Portugal  and  Italy ;  as  a 
restraint  on  tlie  influence  of  I  ranee  and  of  Great  Brit- 
ain ;  and  as  the  ruler  of  dominions  of  which  the  trade 
offered  tempting  advantages.  He  therefore  proposed 
that  the  United  States,  as  the  price  of  a  treaty  of 
reciprocity  in  commerce,  should  forego  the  navigation 
of  the  Mississippi  for  twenty-five  or  thii'ty  years. 
1 7  8  6.  On  the  third  of  August,  Jay  appeared  before  con- 
3.°  gress  and  read  an  elaborate  paper,  in  which  he  en- 
deavored to  prove  that  the  experiment  w^as  worth 
trying.'  The  proposal  sacrificed  a  vitally  important 
right  of  one  part  of  the  union  to  a  commercial  in- 
terest of  another;  yet  the  instruction  which  made 
the  right  to  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  an 
ultimatum  in  any  treaty  with  Spain  was,  after  three 
weeks  reflection,  repealed  by  a  vote  of  seven  north- 
ern states  against  Maryland  and  all  south  of  it. 

28.  The  members  of  the  southern  states  were  pro- 
foundly alarmed.  On  the  report  of  the  committee  to 
the  house,  Charles  Pinckney,  supported  by  Carring- 
ton,  souii;lit  to  transfer  the  nesfotiation  to  Madrid; 

29.  but  in  vain.  The  delegates  of  Virginia,  Grayson  at 
their  head,  strove  to  se2:>arate  the  commercial  ques- 
tions from  those  on  boundaries  and  navigation. 
"  The  surrender  or  proposed  forbearance  of  the  navi- 
gation of  the  Mississippi,"  they  said,  "is  inadmis- 
sible upon  the  principle  of  the  i%ht,  and  u^^on  the 
highest  2)rinci2^1es  of  national  expedience.  In  the 
present  state  of  the  powers  of  congress,  every  wise 

»  Dip.  Cor.,  vi.  177. 


THE    NAVIGATION    OF    THE   MISSISSIPPI.  297 

statesman  should  pursue  a  system  of  conduct  to  gain  chap. 
the  confidence  of  the  several  states  in  the  federal  «— ^—^ 
council,  and  thereby  an  extension  of  its  powers.    This  ^^if.*^' 
act  is  a  dismemberment  of  the  government.     Can  the     29. 
United  States  then  dismember  the  government  by  a 
treaty  of  commerce  ? "'     But  the  North  persisted.* 

Monroe  still  loyally  retained  his  desire  that  the  Sept. 
recrulation  of  commerce  should  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
United  States,  and  his  opinion  that  without  that 
power  the  union  would  infallibly  tumble  to  pieces ; 
but  now  he  looked  about  him  for  means  to  strengthen 
the  position  of  his  own  section  of  the  country ;  and 
to  Madison  he  wrote :  "  I  earnestly  wish  the  admis- 
sion of  a  few  additional  states  into  the  confederacy 
in  the  southern  scale." '  "  There  is  danger,"  reported 
Otto  to  Vergennes,'  "that  the  discussion  may  be-  lo- 
come  the  germ  of  a  separation  of  the  southern 
states."  Murmurs  arose  that  plans  were  forming  in 
New  York  for  dismembering  the  confederacy  and 
throwing  New  York  and  New  England  into  one  gov- 
ernment, with  the  addition,  if  possible,  of  New  Jersey 
and  Pennsylvania.  "Even  should  the  measure  tri- 
umph under  the  whole  thu'teen  states,"  wrote  Madi- 
son, "it  is  not  expedient  because  it  is  not  just."* 
The  next  legislature  of  Vii'ginia  unanimously  resolved 
"  that  nature  had  given  the  Mississippi  to  the  United 
States,  that  the  sacrifice  of  it  would  violate  justice, 
contravene  the  end  of  the  federal  government,  and 
destroy  confidence  in  the  federal  councils  necessary 
to  a  proper  enlargement  of  their  authority." 

*  Secret  Journal,  iv.  87-110.  '  Otto   to  Vergennes,  10  Sept., 

^  Monroe  to  Madison,  3  Sept.,     1786. 
1786.  *  Madison,  i.  350. 


298      THE  PEOPLE  EST  JUDGMENT  OlST  THE  COIS-STITUTIO]^. 

The  plan  could  not  succeed,  for  it  never  had  the 
consent  of  Spain,  and  if  it  should  be  formed  into  a 

17  8  6.  treaty,  the  treaty  could  never  obtain  votes  enough 
for  its  ratification.  In  the  new  congress,  New  Jersey 
left  the  North ;  Pennsylvania,  of  which  a  large  part 
lay  in  the  Mississippi  valley,  became  equally  divided ; 
and  Rhode  Island  began  to  doubt.  But  already 
many  of  Virginia's  "most  federal"  statesmen  were 

17  8V.  extremely  disturbed ;  Patrick  Henry,  who  had  hith- 
erto been  the  champion  of  the  federal  cause,  refused 
to  attend  the  federal  convention  that  he  might  re- 
main free  to  combat  its  result ;  and  an  uncontrollable 
spii'it  of  distrust  drove  Kentucky  to  listen  to  Richard 
Henry  Lee,  and  imperilled  the  new  constitution. 

17  8  8.  The  people  of  Virginia,  whose  undisputed  territory 
had  ample  harbors  convenient  to  the  ocean,  and  no 
western  limit  but  the  Mississippi,  had  never  aspired 
to  form  a  separate  republic.  They  had  deliberately 
surrendered  their  claim  to  the  north-west  territory ; 
and  true  to  the  idea  that  a  state  should  not  be  too 
large  for  the  convenience  of  home  rule,  they  seconded 
the  desire  of  Kentucky  to  become  a  commonwealth 
by  itself.  The  opinion  of  Washington  that  the 
constitution  would  be  adopted  by  Virginia  was  not 
Jan.  shaken.'  Relieved  from  anxiety  at  home,  he  found 
time  to  watcli  tlie  jxatherino;  clouds  of  revolution  in 
Europe,  and  sha})ed  in  his  own  mind  the  foreign  pol- 
icy of  tlie  republic.  His  conclusions,  which  on 
New  Year's  day,  1788,  he  confided  to  Jefferson,  his 
future  adviser  on  the  foreign  relations  of  the  coun- 

'  Wasliinrrton  to  Knox,  10  to  Samuel  Powell,  18  Jan.,  1788, 
Jan.,     1788.       MS.      WaahiugtoQ    MS. 


1  "7  8  8. 
Jan. 


THE    CONSTITUTION   IN   VIEGINIA.  299 

try,  were  in  substance  precisely  as  follows  :  The  chap, 
American  revolution  has  spread  through  Europe  a  -^-^^ 
better  knowledge  of  the  rights  of  mankind,  the  privi- 
leges of  the  people,  and  the  principles  of  liberty  than 
has  existed  in  any  former  period  ;  a  war  in  that  quar- 
ter is  likely  to  be  kindled,  especially  between  France 
and  England ;  in  the  impending  struggle,  an  ener- 
getic general  government  must  prevent  the  several 
states  from  involving  themselves  in  the  political  dis- 
putes of  the  European  powers.  The  situation  of  the 
United  States  is  such  as  makes  it  not  only  unne- 
cessaiy  but  extremely  imprudent  for  them  to  take 
part  in  foreign  quarrels.  Let  them  wisely  and  prop- 
erly improve  the  advantages  which  nature  has  given 
them,  and  conduct  themselves  with  circumspection. 
By  that  policy,  and  by  giving  security  to  property 
and  liberty,  they  will  become  the  asylum  of  the  peace- 
ful, the  industrious,  and  the  wealthy  from  all  parts 
of  the  civilized  world.* 

Nor  did  AVashington  cease  his  vigilant  activity  to 
confirm  Virginia  in  federal  opinions.  Especially  to 
Edmund  Randolph,  then  governor  of  Virginia  and 
in  the  height  of  his  popularity,  he  addressed  himself  * 
with  convincing  earnestness,  and  yet  with  a  delicacy 
that  seemed  to  leave  the  mind  of  Randolph  to  its 
o^vn  workings. 

Madison  likewise,  in  his  zeal  to  see  "  a,  coalition 
among  all  the  real  federalists," '  kept  up  with  Ran- 
dolph a  most  friendly  and  persuasive  correspondence. 

*  Washington    to    Jefferson,     1  dolph,  8  Jan.,  1788.     Sparks,  ix. 
Jan.,  1788.     Compare  Washington  297. 
to  Knox,  10  Jan.,  1788.     MS.  '  Madison     to     E,     Randolph. 

*  Washington  to  Edmund  Ran-  Works,  i.  386. 


300      THE  PEOPLE  ES"  JUDGMENT  OlST  THE  CONSTITUTIOIS'. 

CHAP.  As  a  natural  consequence,  the  governor,  wlio  began  to 
s^-A-  see  the  impossibility  of  obtaining  amendments  witb- 
^1^^-  out  endano'erins:  tbe  success  of  tbe  constitution,  soon 

Jan.  o  o  J 

planted  himself  among  its  defenders  ;  while  Monroe, 
leaving  his  inconsistency  unexplained,  was  drawn 
toward  the  adversaries  of  Madison. 

The  example  of  Massachusetts  had  great  influence 
by  its  mere  recommendation  of  amendments  ;  and 
still  more  by  the  avoAved  determination  of  the  de- 
feated party  honestly  to  support  the  decision  of  the 
majority.  But  while  the  more  moderate  of  the  mai- 
ls, contents  "  appeared  to  be  preparing  for  a  decent  sub- 
mission," and  even  Richard  Henry  Lee  set  bounds  to 
his  opposition,*  the  language  of  Henry  was :  "  The 
other  states  cannot  do  without  Virginia,  and  we  can 
dictate  to  them  what  terms  we  please."  "  His  plans 
extended  contingently  even  to  foreign  alliances." ' 

The  report  from  the  federal  convention  agitated 
the  people  more  than  any  subject  since  the  first 
days  of  the  revolution ;  but  with  a  greater  division 
of  opinion.^  It  was  remarked  that  while  in  the 
seven  northern  states  the  principal  officers  of  gov- 
ernment and  largest  holdei's  of  property,  the  judges 
and  lawyers,  the  clergy  and  men  of  letters,  were 
almo.st  without  exception  devoted  to  the  constitu- 
tion, in  VirjT-inia  the  bar  and  the  men  of  the  most 
culture  and  property  wei^e  divided.  In  Virginia,  too, 
where  the  mass  of  the  people,  though  accustomed  to 
be  guided  by  their  favorite  statesmen  on  all  new  and 

*  Compiirc      Cyrus      CJriflin      to         ^  Carrinfrton  to  Madison,  18  Jan., 
Tlioiiias  Fit/simons,  18  Feb.,  1788.     1788.     MS. 

MS.  '  Monroe  to  Madison,   13  Oct., 

1787.     MS. 


THE    CONSTITUTIOlSr    I]^   VIEGESTIA.  301 

intricate  questions,  now,  on  a  question  wliicli  sur-  chap. 
passed   all   otliers   in  novelty  and   intricacy,  broke  -^^^^^ 
away  from  their  lead  and  followed  a  mysterious  and  ^J*^^- 
prophetic  influence  wliicli  rose  from  the  heart.     The     is. 
phenomenon  was  the  more  wonderful,  as  all  the  ad- 
versaries of  the  new  constitution  justified  their  oppo- 
sition on  the  ground  of  danger  to  the  liberties  of  the 
people.*     And  over  all  discussions,  in  private  or  in 
public,  there  hovered  the  idea  that  Washington  was 
to  lead  the  country  safely  along  the  untrodden  j)ath. 

In  the  time  preceding  the  election,  the  men  of 
Kentucky  w^ere  made  to  fear  the  surrender  of  the 
Mississippi  by  the  federal  government ;  and  the  Bap- 
tists, the  reunion  of  church  and  state."  The  election 
of  Madison  to  the  convention  was  held  to  be  indis- 
pensable.' "He  will  be  the  main  pillar  of  the  con- 
stitution," thought  Jefferson;  "but  though  an  im- 
mensely powerful  one,  it  is  questionable  whether  he 
can  bear  the  weight  of  such  a  host."  *  But  the  plan 
for  a  southern  confederacy  ^vas  crushed  by  the  fidel- 
ity of  South  Carolina;  and  Washington,  who  had 
foreseen  the  event,  cheered  Madison  on  with  the  good 
words :  "  The  eloquence  of  eight  aflarmatives  for  the 
constitution  ought  to  cause  even  '  the  unerring  sister ' 
to  hesitate." ' 

On  the  day  appointed  for  the  meeting  of  the  con-    ^"-^^^ 
vention  a  quorum  was  present  in  Richmond.     It  was 
auspicious  that  Edmund  Pendleton,  the  chancellor, 
was  unanimously  chosen  its  president.     The  building 

*  Madison,  i.  365,  366.  '  Washington  in  Rives,  ii.  547. 

"  James    Madison,    Sr.,    to    his         ■•  Jefferson,   Randolph's   ed.,   ii. 

son,    30   Jan.,   1788,    MS.;    Sem-  270 ;  in  Rives,  ii.  558. 
pie's    Baptists    in    Virginia,    76,         ^  Washington     to    Madison,     3 

77.  May,  1788.     MS. 


302    THE  PEOPLE  nr  judgment  on  the  constitution. 

wliicli  would  hold  tlie  most  listeners  was  made  tlie 
place  of  meeting,  but  Henry  was  alarmed  at  the  pres- 
ence of  short-hand  reporters  from  the  Philadelphia 
press,  as  he  wished  "to  speak  the  language  of  his 
soul "  *  without  the  reserve  of  circumspection.  Dur- 
ing the  period  of  the  confederation,  which  had  exist- 
ed but  little  more  than  seven  years,  it  had  become 
known  that  slavery  and  its  industrial  results  divided 
the  South  from  the  North;  and  this  conviction  ex- 
ercised a  subtle  influence. 

Georsre  Mason,  followins^  the  advice  of  Eichard 
Henry  Lee,"  and  the  precedent  of  Massachusetts, 
proposed  that  no  question  relating  to  the  consti- 
tution should  be  propounded  until  it  should  have 
been  discussed  clause  by  clause;  and  this  was  ac- 
quiesced in  unanimously.  The  debates  which  ensued 
cannot  be  followed  in  the  order  of  time,  for  Henry 
broke  through  every  rule;  but  an  outline  must  be 
given  of  those  which  foreshadowed  the  future. 

Patrick  Henry  dashed  instantly  into  the  battle,  say- 
ing :  "  Tlie  constitution  is  a  severance  of  the  confed- 
eracy. Its  language,  'We  the  people,'  is  the  institu- 
tion of  one  great  consolidated  national  government  of 
the  people  of  all  the  states,  instead  of  a  government 
by  compact  with  the  states  for  its  agents.  The  people 
gave  the  convention  no  power  to  use  their  name." ' 

"  The  question,"  said  Randolph,  "  is  now  between 
union  and  no  union,  and  I  would  sooner  lop  off  my 
right  arm  than  consent  to  a  dissolution  of  the  union."  * 

'  Perm.  Packet,  13  June,  1788.  '  Elliot,  iii.  23. 

'  K.  J  I.  Lee  to  G.  Mason,  7  May,  *  Elliot,  iii.  25,  26. 

1788.     Letter  in  Life  of  li.  IL  L., 
ii.  89. 


THE    COlSfSTITUTION   IN   YIEGESTIA.  303 

"  It  is  a  national  government,"  said  George  Mason,  chap. 
losing  his  self-control  and  becoming  inconsistent.  "  It  — ^-^ 
is  ascertained  by  history  that  there  never  was  one  ij^^- 

''  ''  .  .  June 

government  over  a  very  extensive  country  without  4. 
destroying  the  liberties  of  the  peo2:>le.  The  power  of 
laying  direct  taxes  changes  the  confederation.  The 
general  government  being  paramount  and  more  pow- 
erful, the  state  governments  must  give  way  to  it ; 
and  a  general  consolidated  government  is  one  of  the 
worst  curses  that  can  befall  a  nation." ' 

"  There  is  no  quarrel  between  government  and  lib-  5. 
erty,"  said  Pendleton  ;  "  the  former  is  the  shield  and 
protector  of  the  latter.  The  expression  '  We  the  peo- 
ple '  is  a  common  one,  and  with  me  is  a  favorite. 
AVho  but  the  people  can  delegate  powers,  or  have  a 
right  to  form  government?  The  question  must  be 
between  this  government  and  the  confederation ;  the 
latter  is  no  government  at  all.  Common  danger, 
union,  and  the  spmt  of  America  carried  us  through 
the  war,  and  not  the  confederation  of  which  the  mo- 
ment of  peace  showed  the  imbecility.  Government, 
to  be  effectual,  must  have  complete  powers,  a  legisla- 
ture, a  judiciary,  an  executive.  No  gentleman  in  this 
committee  would  agree  to  vest  these  three  powers  in 
one  body.  The  proposed  government  is  not  a  con- 
solidated government.  It  is  on  the  whole  complexion 
of  it  a  government  of  laws  and  not  of  men.""" 

Madison  explained  at  large  that  the  constitution  is 
in  part  a  consolidated  union,  and  in  part  rests  so  com- 
pletely on  the  states  that  its  very  life  is  bound  up  in 
theirs.     And  on  another  day  he  added :  "  The  powers     il 

^  ElUot,  iii.  29-33.  *  Elliot,  ui.  35^1. 


304      THE  PEOPLE  IlSr  JUDGMENT  0^  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  vested  in  tlie  proposed  government  are  not  so  mucli 

— ,-1^  an  augmentation  of  powers  in  the  general  government, 

^  ^  ^  ^-  as  a  change  rendered  necessary  for  the  purpose  of  giv- 

11.     ing  efficacy  to  those  which  were  vested  in  it  before."  * 

10.  The  opposition  set  no  bounds  to  their  eulogy  of 
the  British  constitution  as  compared  with  the  pro- 
posed one  for  America.  "  The  wisdom  of  the  English 
constitution,"  said  Monroe,  "  has  given  a  share  of  the 
legislation  to  each  of  the  three  branches,  which  en- 
ables it  to  defend  itself  and  to  preserve  the  liberty  of 
the  people.  In  the  plan  for  America  I  can  see  no 
real  checks." "     "  AVe  have  not  materials  in  this  coun- 

11.  try,"  said  Grayson,  "for  such  a  government  as  the 
British  monarchy ;  but  I  w^ould  have  a  president  for 
life,  choosing  his  successor  at  the  same  time ;  a  senate 
for  life,  with  the  powers  of  the  house  of  lords ;  and  a 
triennial  house  of  representatives,  with  the  powers  of 

14.  the  house  of  commons  in  England."  '  "  How  natural 
it  is,"  said  Henry,  "  when  comparing  deformities  to 
beauty,  to  be  struck  with  the  superiority  of  the  Brit- 
ish government  to  the  proposed  system.  In  England 
self-love,  self-interest  stimulates  the  executive  to  ad- 
vance the  prosperity  of  the  nation.  Man  cannot  be 
depended  on  without  self-love.  Your  president  will 
not  have  the  same  motives  of  self-love  to  impel  him 
to  favor  your  interests.  His  political  character  is  but 
transient.  In  the  British  government  the  sword  and 
purse  are  not  united  in  tlie  same  hands ;  in  this  sys- 
tem they  are.  Does  not  infinite  security  result  from 
a  separation  ? "  * 

'  Elliot,  iii.  80-97,  and  259.  =  Elliot,  iii.  279. 

=■  Elliot,  iii.  218,  219.  ♦  Elliot,  iii.  387,  388. 


17  88. 
June 


THE    CONSTITUTION   IN    VIRGINIA.  305 

Madison  replied :  "  There  never  was,  tliere  never  chap 
will  be,  an  efficient  government  in  whicli  both  tlie 
sword  and  purse  are  not  vested,  though  they  may 
not  be  given  to  the  same  member  of  government.  i4, 
The  sword  is  in  the  hands  of  the  British  king ;  the 
purse  in  the  hands  of  the  parliament.  It  is  so  in 
America,  as  far  as  any  analogy  can  exist.  When 
power  is  necessary  and  can  be  safely  lodged,  reason 
commands  its  cession.  From  the  first  moment  that 
my  mind  was  capable  of  contemplating  political  sub- 
jects I  have  had  a  uniform  zeal  for  a  well-regulated 
republican  government.  The  establishment  of  it  in 
America  is  my  most  ardent  desire.  If  the  bands  of 
the  government  be  relaxed,  anarchy  will  produce 
despotism.  Faction  and  confusion  preceded  the  revo- 
lutions in  Germany  ;  faction  and  confusion  produced 
the  disorders  and  commotions  of  Holland.  In  this 
commonwealth,  and  in  every  state  in  the  union,  the 
relaxed  operation  of  the  government  has  been  suffi- 
cient to  alarm  the  friends  of  theii'  country.  The 
rapid  increase  of  population  strongly  calls  for  a  re- 
publican organization.  There  is  more  responsibil- 
ity in  the  proposed  government  than  in  the  English. 
Our  representatives  are  chosen  for  two  years,  in  Eng- 
land for  seven.  Any  citizen  may  be  elected  here ; 
in  Great  Britain  no  one  without  an  estate  of  the  an- 
nual value  of  six  hundred  pounds  sterling  can  repre- 
sent a  county;  nor  a  corporation  without  half  as 
much.  If  confidence  be  due  to  the  government  there, 
it  is  due  tenfold  here."* 

Against  the  judiciary  as  constituted  by  the  consti-     20. 

» Elliot,  iii.  393-395. 
VOL.  II.  20 


306      THE  PEOPLE  IN  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  tution  Henry  exceeded  liimself  in  vehemence,  finding 
.--^  dangers  to  the  state  courts  by  tlie  number  of  its  tri- 
1788.  bunals,  by  appellate  jurisdictions,   controversies   be- 
20.     tween  a  state  and  tlie  citizens  of  another  state ;  dan- 
gers to  the  trial  by  jury ;  dangers  springing  out  of 
the  clause  against  the  imj)airment  of  the  obligations 
of  a  contract. 

Of  the  judiciary  system,  Marshall,  follo^ying  able 
speakers  on  the  same  side,  summed  up  the  defence. 
"  Tribunals  for  the  decisions  of  controversies,  which 
were  before  either  not  at  all  or  improperly  provided 
for,  are  here  appointed.'  Federal  courts  wiU  deter- 
mine  causes  with  the  same  fairness  and  impartiality 
as  the  state  courts.  The  federal  judges  are  chosen 
with  equal  wisdom,  and  they  are  equally  or  more 
independent.  The  power  of  creating  a  number  of 
courts  is  necessary  to  the  perfection  of  this  system." 
The  jurisdiction  of  the  judiciary  has  its  limit.  The 
United  States  court  cannot  extend  to  everything, 
since,  if  the  United  States  were  to  make  a  law  not 
warranted  by  any  of  the  enumerated  powers,  the 
judges  would  consider  it  as  an  infringement  of  the 
constitution.  The  state  courts  are  crowded  with 
suits ;  if  some  of  them  should  be  carried  to  a  federal 
court,  the  state  courts  will  still  have  business  enough.' 
To  the  judiciary  you  must  look  for  protection  from 
an  infringement  on  the  constitution.  No  other  body 
can  aifcH'd  it.'  The  jurisdiction  of  the  federal  courts 
over  disputes  between  a  state  and  the  citizens  of  an- 
other state  has  been  decried  with  un^isual  vehemence.* 

'  Elliot,  iii.  r>r)i.  *  Elliot,  iii.  554. 

"  Elliot,  iii.  553.  •  Elliot,  iii.  555. 

•  Ibid. 


TiiE  coNSTrruTiON  m  Virginia.  307 

There  is  a  difficulty  in  making  a  state  defendant  chap. 
which  does  not  prevent  its  being  plaintiff.  It  is  not  .^-^^^ 
rational  to  suppose  that  the  sovereign  power  should  i  ^  ^  8, 
be  dragged  before  a  court.  The  intent  is  to  enable  ^o. 
states  to  recover  claims  asjainst  individuals  residing: 
in  other  states.  This  construction  is  warranted  by 
the  words."  *  On  the  clause  relating  to  impairing  the 
obligation  of  contracts,  Marshall  said  this :  "  A  suit 
instituted  in  the  federal  courts  by  the  citizens  of  one 
state  asfainst  the  citizens  of  another  state  will  be 
instituted  in  the  court  where  the  defendant  resides, 
and  will  be  determined  by  the  laws  of  the  state  where 
the  contract  was  made.  The  laws  which  govern  the 
contract  at  its  formation  govern  it  at  its  decision." 
Whether  this  man  or  that  man  succeeds  is  to  the  gov- 
ernment all  one  thing."  Congi^ess  is  empowered  to 
make  exceptions  to  the  appellate  jurisdiction  of  the 
supreme  court,  both  as  to  law  and  as  to  fact ;  and 
these  exceptions  certainly  go  as  far  as  the  legislature 
may  think  proper  for  the  interest  and  liberty  of  the 
people."* 

The  planters  of  Virginia  were  indebted  to  British 
merchants  to  the  amount  of  ten  millions  of  dollars ; 
and  the  Viro-inia  leo-islature,  under  the  influence  of 
Henry,  had  withheld  from  these  creditors  the  right 
to  sue  in  the  courts  of  Virginia  until  England  should 
have  fulfilled  her  part  of  the  treaty  of  peace  by  sur- 
rendering the  western  posts  and  by  making  compen- 
sation for  slaves  that  had  been  carried  away ;  he  now 
censured  the  federal  constitution  for  granting  in  the 

»  Elliot,  iii.  555.  '  Elliot,  iii.  558. 

'  ElUot,  iii.  556,  557.  *  ElUot,  iii.  560. 


308      THE  PEOPLE  IN  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  case   retrospective   jurisdiction.      Marshall    replied : 

,J^  "There   is  a   difference   between  a   tribunal  which 

^J^^-  shall  give  effect  to  an  existino;  rio-ht,  and  creatine; 

June  '^  ,  o        o      7  o 

20.  a  right  that  did  not  exist  before.  The  debt  or 
claim  is  created  by  the  individual ;  a  creation  of 
a  new  court  does  not  amount  to  a  retrospective 
law." ' 

Questions  on  the  powers  which  it  would  be  wise 
to  grant  to  the  general  government,  and  on  what 
powers  had  been  granted,  divided  the  convention. 
The  decision  of  Maryland  and  South  Carolina  dashed 
the  hope  of  proselyting  Virginia  to  propose  a  sep- 

9.  arate  southern  confederacy ;  but  Henry  still  said : 
"  Compared  with  the  consolidation  of  one  power  to 
reign  with  a  strong  hand  over  so  extensive  a  country 
as  this  is,  small  confederacies  are  little  evils.  Vir- 
ginia and  North  Carolina  could  exist  separated  from 
the  rest  of  America.'"     But  he  limited  himself  to 

7.  proposing  that  Virginia,  "  the  greatest  and  most 
mighty  state  in  the  union," '  followed  by  North  Caro- 

9-  lina  and  by  New  York,  which  state  he  announced  as 
being  in  high  02:>position,*  should  hold  the  constitu- 
tion in  suspense  until  they  had  compelled  the  other 
states  to  adopt  the  amendments  on  which  she  should 
insist.     He  cited  Jefferson  as  advising  "  to  reject  the 

10.  government  till  it  should  be  amended."  *  Randolph 
interpreted  the  letter  which  Henry  had  cited  as  the 
expression  of  a  strong  desire  that  the  government 
might  be  adopted  by  nine  states,  with  Virginia  for  one 

12.     of  the  nine  ;'  and  Pendleton  cited  from  the  same  let- 

'  Klliot,  iii.  530,  54G,  501.  *  Elliot,  iii.  157,  183. 

"  Elliot,  iii.  Kil.  »  Elliot,  iii.  152. 

'  Elliot,  iii.  142.  •  Elliot,  ui.  200. 


THE    COITSTITUTION    LJf   VIRGINIA.  309 

ter  tlie  words  that  "  a  schism  in  our  union  would  be  chap. 

V. 

an  incurable  evil."* 

"  Under  the  royal  government,"  said  Mason,  in- 
troducing a  new  theme,  "the  importation  of  slaves 
was  looked  upon  as  a  great  oppression ;  but  the 
African  merchants  prevented  the  many  attempts  at 
its  prohibition.  It  was  one  of  the  great  causes  of 
our  separation  from  Great  Britain.  Its  exclusion  has 
been  a  principal  object  of  this  state  and  most  of  the 
states  in  this  union.  The  au2;mentation  of  slaves 
weakens  the  states.  Such  a  trade  is  diabolical  in 
itself  and  disgraceful  to  mankind ;  yet  by  this  consti- 
tution it  is  continued  for  twenty  years."*  Much  as  I 
value  a  union  of  all  the  states,  I  would  not  admit  the 
southern  states  into  the  union  unless  they  agree  to  its 
discontinuance.  And  there  is  no  clause  in  this  con- 
stitution to  secure  the  property  of  that  kind  which 
we  have  acquired  under  our  former  laws,  and  of 
which  the  loss  would  bring  ruin  on  a  great  many 
people  ; '  for  such  a  tax  may  be  laid  as  will  amount 
to  manumission."  * 

Madison  equally  abhorred  the  slave-trade  ;  but  an- 
swered, with  reserve :  "  The  gentlemen  of  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia  argued,  '  By  hindering  us  from 
importing  this  species  of  property  the  slaves  of  Vir- 
ginia will  rise  in  value,  and  we  shall  be  obliged  to  go 
to  your  markets.'  I  need  not  expatiate  on  this  sub- 
ject ;  great  as  the  evil  is,  a  dismemberment  of  the 
union  would  be  worse.  Under  the  articles  of  con- 
federation the  traffic  might  be  continued  forever ;  by 

»  Elliot,  iii.  304.  »  Elliot,  iii.  270. 

'  Elliot,  iU.  269.  *  Elliot,  iii.  452. 


310      THE  PEOPLE  ITf  JUDGMENT  Olf  THE  COTs'STITUTION. 

CHAP,  tliis  clause  an  end  maybe  put  to  it  after  twenty  years. 
v-^-^-L^  From  the  mode  of  representation  and  taxation,  con- 
178  8.  m-ess  cannot  lay  sucli  a  tax  on  slaves  as  will  amount 

June     '^  ... 

n.  to  manumission.  At  present,  if  any  slave  elopes  to 
any  of  those  states  where  slaves  are  fi'ee,  he  becomes 
emancipated  by  their  laws  ;  in  this  constitution  a 
clause  was  expressly  inserted  to  enable  owners  of 
slaves  to  reclaim  them." ' 

Tyler,  an  anti-federalist,  spoke  at  large  and  with 
warmth :  "  This  wicked  traffic  is  impolitic,  iniquitous, 
and  disgraceful.  It  was  one  cause  of  the  complaints 
against  British  tyranny ;  nothing  can  justify  its  re- 
vival. But  for  this  temporary  restriction,  congress 
could  have  prohibited  the  Afiican  ti'ade.  My  earnest 
desire  is  that  it  should  be  handed  down  to  posterity, 
that  I  have  opposed  this  wicked  clause." ' 

24.  Heniy  raised  a  new  cry  on  the  danger  of  emanci- 
pation :  "  The  great  object  of  national  government  is 
national  defence ;  the  northern  states  may  call  forth 
every  national  resource ;  and  congress  may  say, '  Every 
black  man  must  fight.'  In  the  last  war  acts  of  assem- 
bly set  fi'ee  every  slave  who  would  go  into  the  army. 
Slavery  is  detested  ;  we  feel  its  fatal  effects  ;  we  de- 
plore it  with  all  the  pity  of  humanity.  Let  that 
urbanity  ^\'hich  I  trust  will  distinguish  Americans, 
and  the  necessity  of  national  defence,  operate  on  their 
minds ;  they  have  the  power,  in  clear,  unequivocal 
teiTus,  to  pronounce  all  slaves  free,  and  they  will  cer- 
tainly exercise  the  power.  Much  as  I  deplore  sla- 
very, I  see  that  the  general  goverqment  ought  not 
to   set   the   slaves   free ;    for   the   majority   of   con- 

'  Elliot,  iii.  453.  "  Elliot,  iii.  454,  455. 


THE    CONSTITUTIOISr   EST   VrRGDTIA.  311 

gress   is   to   the   North  and   tlie   slaves   are  to  tlie  chap. 

Soutli.'"  J^_ 

The  governor  of  Vii^ofinia  first  showed  that  the  eon-  i  J  s  s. 

June 

stitutiou  itself  did  not,  even  in  the  opinion  of  South  24. 
Carolina,  menace  enfranchisement ;  and  thus  pro- 
ceeded :  "  I  hope  that  there  is  no  one  here  who,  con- 
sidering the  subject  in  the  calm  light  of  philosophy, 
will  advance  an  objection  dishonorable  to  Virginia ; 
that,  at  the  moment  they  are  securing  the  rights  of 
their  citizens,  there  is  a  spark  of  hope  that  those  un- 
fortunate men  now  held  in  bondage  may,  by  the 
operation  of  the  general  government,  be  made  free."" 

The  representative  from  Augusta  county,  Zacha-  25. 
riah  Johnson,  complained  that  the  bill  of  rights  which 
the  convention  was  preparing  as  an  amendment  to 
the  constitution  did  not  acknowledge  that  all  men  are 
by  nature  equally  free  and  independent.  "  Gentle- 
men tell  us,"  he  said,  "that  they  see  a  progressive 
danger  of  bringing  about  emancipation.  The  total 
abolition  of  slaveiy  would  do  much  good.  The  prin- 
ciple has  begun  since  the  revolution.  Let  us  do  what 
we  may,  it  will  come  round."' 

To  the  declamations  of  Henry  that  the  adoption  of 
the  constitution  woidd  be  the  renunciation  of  the 
right  to  navigate  the  Mississippi,  Madison,  after  a 
candid  relation  of  what  had  transpired  in  congress,  12. 
and  giving  the  information  that  New  Jersey  and  Penn- 
sylvania were  now  strenuous  against  even  any  tempo- 
rary cession  of  the  navigation  of  that  river,  made  the 
further  irrefragable  reply ;  "  The  free  navigation  of 

'  Elliot,  iii.  590-593.  »  Elliot,  iii.  648. 

"  Elliot,  iii.  598,  599. 


312      THE  PEOPLE  EST  JUDGMEITT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  tlie  Mississippi  is  our  riglit.  The  confederation  is  so 
weak  that  it  has  not  formed,  and  cannot  fonn,  a 
treaty  which  will  secure  to  us  the  actual  enjoyment  of 
it.  Under  an  efficient  government  alone  shall  we  be 
able  to  avail  ourselves  fully  of  our  right.  The  new 
government  will  have  more  strength  to  enforce  it." 

13.  "  Should  the  constitution  be  adopted,"  said  Monroe, 
"  the  northern  states  will  not  fail  to  relinquish  the 
Mississippi  in  order  to  depi'ess  the  western  countiy 
and  prevent  the  southern  interest  from  preponder- 
ating." '  "  To  preserve  the  balance  of  American 
power,"  continued  Henry,  "  it  is  essentially  necessary 
that  the  right  of  the  Mississippi  should  be  secured, 
or  the  South  will  ever  be  a  contemj)tible  minority."* 

14.  "  This  contest  of  the  Mississippi,"  said  Grayson,  "  is 
a  contest  for  empire,  in  which  Virginia,  Kentucky, 
the  southern  states  are  deeply  interested.  It  involves 
this  great  national  question,  whether  one  part  of  the 
continent  shall  govern  the  other.  From  the  extent 
of  tenitory  and  fertility  of  soil,  God  and  nature  have 
intended  that  the  weight  of  population  should  be  on 
the  southern  side.  At  present,  for  various  reasons,  it 
is  on  the  other.  If  the  Mississippi  be  shut  up,  emi- 
grations will  be  stopped  entirely ;  no  new  states  will 
be  formed  on  the  western  waters ; '  and  this  govern- 
ment will  be  a  government  of  seven  states."  *  To  the 
last  Grayson  said:  "The  seven  states,  which  are  a 
majority,  being  actually  in  possession,  will  never  ad- 
mit any  southern  state  into  the  union  so  as  to  lose 
that  majority." ' 

'  Elliot,  iii.  340.  *  Elliot,  iii.  3G5,  3GG. 

MOlliot,  iii.  ;{r)2.  »  Elliot,  iii.  585. 

'  Elliot,  iii.  305, 


23 


THE    CONSTriTJTION   IN    VIRGEN^IA.  313 

The  power  of  the  government  to  establish  a  naviga-  chap. 
tion  act  by  a  bare  majority  was  bitterly  complained  of 
by  George  Mason ; '  by  Grayson,  who  complained  that 
the  interests  of  the  carrying  states  would  govern  the 
producing  states ; '  by  Tyler,  who  mourned  over  his 
own  act  in  having  proposed  to  cede  the  regulation  of 
commerce  to  the  confederation,  since  it  had  led  to  the 
grant  of  powers  too  dangerous  to  be  trusted  to  any 
set  of  men  whatsoever.'  Complaint  was  further  made 
that  treaties  were  to  go  into  effect  ^vithout  regard  to 
the  opinion  of  the  house  of  representatives ;  and  espe- 
cially that  there  was  no  bill  of  rights,  and  that  there 
was  no  explicit  reservation  of  powers  not  delegated 
to  the  general  government.  In  some  parts  of  the 
country  the  settlers  were  made  to  dread  a  resuscitation 
of  old  land  companies  through  the  federal  judiciary. 

The  prohibition  on  the  states  to  issue  paper  money 
weighed  on  the  minds  of  the  debtor  class ;  but  it  was 
not  much  discussed,  for  on  that  point  George  Mason 
and  Richard  Henry  Lee  were  the  great  leaders  in 
favor  of  the  suppression  of  paper  money  "  as  founded 
upon  fraud  and  knavery."  *  And  Mason  had  forced 
the  assembly  of  Virginia  in  their  last  session  to  adopt 
a  series  of  resolutions  declaring  that  paper  currency 
created  scarcity  of  real  money,  and  substituted  for 
the  real  standard  of  value  a  standard  variable  as  the 
commodities  themselves,  ruining  trade  and  commerce, 
weakening  the  morals  of  the  people,  destropug  public 
and  private  credit  and  all  faith  between  man  and 
man,  and  aggravating  the  very  evils  which  it  was  in- 

'  Elliot,  iii.  604.  *  Geo.  Mason  to  Washington,  6 

'  Elliot,  iii.  616.  Nov.,   1787,  in  Letters  to  G.  W., 

*  Elliot,  iii.  640.  iv.  190. 


314      THE  PEOPLE  IN"  JUDGMENT  OX  THE  CO]S[STITUTIOX. 

c^^^-  tended  to  remedy/     And  yet  there  were  tliose  in  tlie 
^^. —  convention  wliose  votes  were  swayed  by  tlie  consider- 
y.me^"  ation  that,  if  the  constitution  should  be  established, 
2^-     there  would  be  an  end  of  inconvertible  bills  of  credit 
forever.     But  that  which  affected  the  decision  more 
than  anything  else  was  that  the  constitution  would 
brin^c  with  it  to  British  creditors  a  rio;ht  to  recover 
through  the  federal  courts  claims  on  Virginia  plant- 
ers for  about  ten  millions  of  dollars. 

The  discussions  had  been  temperately  conducted 
till  just  at  the  last,  when  for  a  moment  pretending 
that  the  acceptance  of  the  constitution  would  make 
20.  an  end  of  the  trial  by  jury,  Henry  said :  "  Old  as  I 
am,  it  is  probable  I  may  yet  have  the  appellation 
of  rebel.  But  my  neighbors  will  protect  me."  *  This 
daring  drew  out  the  reply  that  Yii'gluia  would  be  in 
25.  arms  to  support  the  constitution ;  and  James  Innes, 
of  Williamsburg,  quoting  against  him  his  own  words, 
said :  "  I  observe  with  regret  a  general  spirit  of  jeal- 
ousy with  respect  to  our  northern  brethren.  If  we 
had  had  it  in  1775  it  would  have  prevented  that 
unanimous  resistance  which  triumphed  over  our  ene- 
mies ;  it  was  not  a  Virginian,  a  Carolinian,  a  Pennsyl- 
vanian,  but  the  glorious  name  of  an  American,  that 
extended  from  one  end  of  the  continent  to  the  other." ' 
But  the  feeling  was  soon  pacified,  and  the  last  words 
of  Henry  himself  were:  "If  I  shall  be  in  the  minor- 
ity, I  shall  yet  be  a  peaceable  citizen,  my  head,  my 
liand,  and  my  heart  being  at  liberty  to  remove  the 
defects  of  the  system  in  a  constitutio|nal  way."'     The 

>  In(l(;i)fn(lent      Giizettecr,      17  '  Elliot,  iii.  033. 

Nov.,  1787.  *  Elliot,  iii.  053. 

'  Elliot,  iii.  510. 


THE    CONSTITUTION   IN   VIRGINIA.  315 

last  word  was  fi'orn  the  governor  of  Virginia :  "  The  chap. 
accession  of  eisrht  states  reduces  our  deliberations  to 
the  single  question  of  union  or  no  union." ' 

For  more  than  tln^ee  weeks  the  foes  of  the  constitu- 
tion had  kept  up  the  onset,  and  day  after  day  they 
had  been  beaten  back  as  cavahy  that  tries  in  vain  to 
break  the  ranks  of  infantry.  For  more  than  three 
weeks  Henry  and  Grayson  and  Mason  renewed  the 
onslaught,  feebly  supported  by  Monroe,  and  greatly 
aided  by  the  weight  of  character  of  Benjamin  Harri- 
son and  John  Tyler ;  day  by  day  they  were  triumph- 
antly encountered  by  Madison,  on  whom  the  defence 
of  the  constitution  mainly  rested ;  by  Pendleton,  who, 
in  spite  of  the  infirmities  of  his  later  age,  was  moved 
even  more  deeply  than  in  the  beginning  of  the  revo- 
lution ;  and  by  the  popular  eloquence  of  Eandolph. 
These  three  champions  were  well  seconded  by  George 
Nicholas,  John  Marshall,  James  Innes,  Henry  Lee, 
and  Francis  Corbin.'' 

On  the  twenty-fifth,  after  debates  for  three  weeks, 
the  malcontents  had  no  heart  for  further  resistance. 
The  convention  was  willing  to  recommend  a  biU  of 
rights  in  twenty  sections,  with  twenty  other  more 
questionable  amendments.  The  first  motion  was: 
"Ouo-ht  the  declaration  of  rights  and  amendments  of 
the  constitution  to  be  referred  by  this  convention  to 
the  other  states  in  the  American  confederacy  for  theii* 
consideration  previous  to  the  ratification  of  the  new 
constitution  of  government?"  It  was  lost,  having 
only  eighty  voices  against  eighty-eight.  Then  the 
main  question  was  put,  that  the  constitution  be  rati- 

*  Elliot,  iii.  653.  "  Compare  Rives,  ii.  561. 


316      THE  PEOPLE  IN  JUDGMENT  ON  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

CHAP,  fied,  referrino;  all  amendments  to  tlie  first  con^jress 

V  .      .  .  . 

v^v-1^  under  tlie  constitution.     The  decision  would  be  mo- 

^june^'  ^^^tous,  uot  for  America  only,  but  the  whole  world. 

25.     Without  Vii'ginia,  this  great  country  would  have  been 

shivered  into  fragmentary  confederacies,  or  separate 

independent  states. 

The  roll  was  called ;  and  from  the  cities  of  Kich- 
mond  and  Williamsburg,  from  counties  near  the 
ocean,  from  the  northern  neck,  from  the  northwestern 
border  counties,  and  fi'om  the  counties  between  the 
Blue  Kidge  and  the  Alleghanies,  eighty-nine  delegates 
voted  for  the  constitution.  From  other  central  and 
southern  border  counties,  and  from  three  fourths  of 
the  counties  of  Kentucky,  seventy-nine  cried  No. 

The  committee  for  reporting  the  form  of  ratifica- 
tion were  Randolph,  Nicholas,  Madison,  Marshall,  and 
Corbin,  all  from  among  the  stanchest  supporters  of 
the  constitution. 

In  the  form  which  was  adopted  they  connected 
with  the  ratification  "  a  few  declaratory  truths  not 
affecting  the  validity  of  the  act ; "  *  and  shielded  the 
rights  of  the  states  by  the  assertion  "  that  every 
power  not  granted  by  the  constitution  remains  for 
the  people  of  the  United  States  and  at  their  will." ' 

After  the  vote  was  taken,  the  successful  party  were 
careful  not  to  ruffle  their  opponents  by  exultation. 
Henry  sho^ved  his  genial  nature,  free  from  all  malig- 
nity. He  was  like  a  billow  of  the  ocean  on  the  first 
briglit  day  after  the  storm,  dashing  itself  against  the 
rocky  cliif,  and  tljen,  sparkling  with  light,  retreating 

'  Maflison    to    Washington,    in         "  Elliot,  iii.  G56. 
Rivea,  ii.  008. 


THE    CONSTITUTION    IN    VIEGINIA.  317 

to  its  home.  It  was  more  difficult  for  Mason  to  calm  chap. 
the  morbid  sensibility  of  his  nature  and  to  heal  his  .--^ 
sorrow  at  havino*  abandoned  one  of  the  hisrhest  places  i  J  §  ^• 

o  ...  June 

of  honor  amona:  the  fathers  of  the  constitution  which  25. 
he  had  done  so  much  to  initiate,  to  form,  and  to  im- 
prove. He  was  pacified  by  words  from  Harrison  and 
from  Tyler,  who  held  it  the  duty  of  good  citizens  to 
accept  the  decision  of  the  majority,  and  by  precept 
and  example  to  promote  harmony  and  order  and 
union  amons;  theu*  fellow-citizens.  But  that  which 
did  most  to  soothe  the  minority  was  their  trust  in 
Washington.  "  For  the  president,"  said  Mason,  "  there 
seldom  or  never  can  be  a  majority  in  favor  of  one, 
except  one  great  name,  who  will  be  unanimously 
elected." '  "  Were  it  not  for  one  great  character  in 
America,"  said  Grayson,  "  so  many  men  would  not  be 
for  this  government.  We  do  not  fear  while  he  lives ; 
but  who  beside  him  can  concentrate  the  confidence 
and  affections  of  aU  America  ? " '  And  Monroe  re- 
ported to  Jefferson :  "  Be  assured,  Washington's  in- 
fluence carried  this  government." ' 

Nor  was  that  influence  confined  to  Virginia  alone. 
The  country  was  an  instrument  with  thirteen  strings, 
and  the  only  master  who  could  bring  out  all  theii' 
harmonious  thouo-ht  was  AVashinirton.  Had  he  not 
attended  the  federal  convention,  its  work  would  have 
met  a  colder  reception  and  more  strenuous  opponents. 
Had  the  idea  prevailed  that  he  would  not  accept  the 
presidency,  it  would  still  have  proved  fatal.' 

*  Elliot,  iii.493;  and  compare  134.  ^  Gouverneur  Morris  to  Wash- 

»  Elliot,  iii.  616.  ington,   30  Oct.,   1787,  in  Life  of 

'  Monroe  to  Jefferson,  13  July,  Morris  by  Sparks,  i.  289,  290. 
1788.     MS. 


318      TIIE  PEOPLE  m  JUDGMENT  OIT  THE  COITSTITUTIOK. 

Vii'ginia  lost  the  opportunity  of  being  the  ninth 
state  to  constitute  the  union.  While  the  long  winter 
of  New  Hampshire  intercepted  the  labors  of  hus- 
bandry, the  fireside  of  the  freeholders  in  its  hundreds 
of  to^\Tiships  became  the  scene  for  discussing  the  mer- 
its of  the  federal  constitution  with  the  delegates  of 
their  choice  and  with  one  another.  Their  convention 
reassembled  in  June.  Four  days  served  them  to 
discuss  the  constitution,  to  prepare  and  recommend 
twelve  articles  of  amendment,  and,  by  fifty-seven 
21.  voices  against  forty-six,  to  ratify  the  constitution. 
They  took  care  to  insert  in  their  record  that  their 
vote  was  taken  on  Saturday,  the  twenty-first  of  June, 
at  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  that  Virginia  by  a 
vote  at  a  later  hour  of  the  same  day  might  not  dis- 
pute with  them  the  honor  of  giving  life  to  the  con- 
stitution." 

By  their  decision,  accompanied  by  that  of  Virginia, 
the  United  States  of  America  came  formally  into  ex- 
istence. As  the  glad  tidings  flew  through  the  land, 
the  heart  of  its  people  thrilled  with  jo}'-  that  at  last 
the  tree  of  union  was  fiiTuly  planted.  Never  may  its 
trunk  be  riven  by  the  lightning ;  nor  its  branches 
crash  each  other  in  the  maddening  storm  ;  nor  its 
beauty  A\ather  ;  nor  its  root  decay. 

*  Tobias  Lear  to  Washington,  23  June,  1788.     Letters  to  Washington, 
iv.  225. 


BOOK    Y. 

THE  FEDERAL  GOA^ERNMENT. 

June,  1787. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    CONSTITUTION. 

1787. 

"  The  American  constitution  is  the  most  "wonderful  chap. 
work  ever  struck  off  at  a  given  time  by  the  brain  and  ^^^^ 
purpose  of  man  ;  "  but  it  had  its  forerunners.  17  8  7. 

England  had  suffered  the  thirteen  colonies,  as  free 
states,  to  make  laws  each  for  itself  and  never  for 
one  of  the  others ;  and  had  established  their  union 
in  a  tempered  subordination  to  the  British  cro-wn. 
Among  the  many  guides  of  America,  there  had  been 
Winthrop  and  Cotton,  Hooker  and  Ha}Ties,  George 
Fox  and  William  Penn,  Koger  Williams  and  John 
Clarke ;  scholars  of  Oxford  and  many  more  of  Cam- 
bridge ;  Gustavus  Adolphus  and  Oxenstiern ;  the 
merchants  of  the  United  Netherlands ;  Southampton 
and  Baltimore,  with  the  kindliest  influences  of  the 
British  aristocracy ;  Shaftesbury  with  Locke,  for  evil 
as  well  as  for  good ;  all  the  great  slave-traders  that 
sat  on  thrones  or  were  fostered  by  parliament ;  and 
the  philanthropist  Oglethorpe,  who  founded  a  colony 
exclusively  of  the  free  on  a  territory  twice  as  large 

VOL.    II.  21 


322  THE  FEDEEAL  GOVEENMENT. 

ciiAP.  as  France,  and  t]iou2:]i  lie  liacl  to  mourn  at  tlie  over- 

I.  .  .  . 

> — r —  throw  of  his  plans  for  liberty,  lived  to  see  his  planta- 

'^"^^'i-  tion  independent. 

There  were  other  precursors  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment ;  but  the  men  who  framed  it  followed  the  lead 
of  no  theoretical  writer  of  their  o^^^l  or  preceding 
times.  They  harbored  no  desire  of  revolution,  no 
craving  after  untried  experiments.  They  A\Tought 
from  the  elements  which  were  at  hand,  and  shaped 
them  to  meet  the  new  exigencies  which  had  arisen. 
The  least  possible  reference  was  made  by  them  to 
abstract  doctrines ;  they  moulded  their  design  by  a 
creative  power  of  their  own,  but  nothing  was  intro- 
duced that  did  not  already  exist,  or  was  not  a  natural 
development  of  a  well-known  principle.  The  mate- 
rials for  building  the  American  constitution  were  the 
gifts  of  the  ages. 

Of  old,  the  family  was  the  rudiment  of  the  state. 
Of  the  Jews,  the  organization  was  by  tribes.  The 
citizens  of  the  commonwealths  of  the  Hellenes  were 
of  one  blood.  Amono;  the  barbarous  tribes  of  the 
fourth  continent,  the  governments  and  the  confed- 
eracies all  rested  on  consanguinity.  Nations,  as  the 
word  implied,  were  but  large  communities  of  men  of 
one  kin ;  and  nationalities  survive  to  this  day,  a  source 
of  strengtli  in  their  unity,  and  yet  of  strife,  where 
they  exist  in  their  original  separateness  and  are  nev- 
ertheless held  in  sul)jection  under  one  ruler.  Rome 
first  learned  to  cherish  the  human  race  by  a  common 
name  and  transfomi  the  vanquished  into  citizens. 

Tlie  process  of  assimilation  which  Home  initiated 
by  war,  received  its  perfect  development  in  the  land 


THE    COlSrSTITUTION.  323 

where  the  Dutch  and  the  Swedes,  and  in  the  country  chap. 
northwest  of  the  Ohio  the  French,  competed  in  plant-  ^.^ 
ing  colonies ;  where  the  English,  the  Irish,  the  Scotch  ^  '^  ®  '^• 
for  the  most  part  came  over  each  for  himself,  never 
reproducing   their   original   nationality ;    and  where, 
from  the  first,  fugitives  from  persecution  of  all  na- 
tions found  a  safe  asylum.     Though  subjects  of  the 
English ,  king,  all  were  present  in  America  as  indi- 
viduals. 

The  Ensrlish  lansfuasre  maintained  itself  without  a 
rival,  not  merely  because  those  speaking  it  as  their 
mother  tongue  very  greatly  outnumbered  all  others, 
and  because  all  acknowledged  English  supremacy; 
but  for  the  simplicity  of  its  structure;  its  logical 
order  in  the  presentment  of  thought;  its  suitable- 
ness for  the  purposes  of  every-day  life ;  for  the  dis- 
cussion of  abstract  truths  and  the  apprehension  of 
Anglo-Saxon  political  ideas ;  for  use  as  the  instru- 
ment of  the  common  law ;  for  science  and  descrip- 
tion ;  for  the  debates  of  public  life ;  for  every  kind 
of  poetry,  from  humor  to  pathos,  from  nature  to  the 
heart  and  mind. 

But  the  distinctive  character  of  the  new  people  as 
a  whole,  their  nationality,  so  to  say,  was  the  prin- 
ciple of  individuality  which  prevailed  among  them  as 
it  had  nowhere  done  before.  This  individuality  was 
strengthened  by  the  struggles  with  Nature  in  her 
wildness,  by  the  remoteness  from  the  abodes  of  an- 
cient institutions,  by  the  war  against  the  traditions 
of  absolute  power  and  old  superstitions,  till  it  devel- 
oped itself  into  the  most  perfect  liberty  in  thought 
and  action ;  so  that  the  American  came  to  be  marked 


I. 

1V87 


324  THE  FEDEEAL  GOVEENMENT. 

CHAP,  by  tlie  readiest  versatility,  the  spiiit  of  enterprise, 
and  tlie  faculty  of  invention.  In  the  declaration  of 
independence  the  representatives  of  the  United  States 
called  themselves  "the  good  people  of  these  colo- 
nies." The  statesmen  who  drew  the  law  of  citizen- 
ship in  1776  made  no  distinction  of  nationalities,  or 
tribes,  or  ranks,  or  occupations,  or  faith,  or  wealth, 
and  knew  only  inhabitants  bearing  allegiance  to  the 
governments  of  the  several  states  in  union. 

Again,  this  character  of  the  people  appeared  most 
clearly  in  the  Joint  action  of  the  United  States  in  the 
federal  convention,  where  the  variant  prejudices  that 
still  clung  to  separate  states  eliminated  each  other. 

The  constitution  establishes  nothino-  that  interferes 
with  equality  and  individuality.  It  knows  nothing 
of  differences  by  descent,  or  opinions,  of  favored 
classes,  or  legalized  religion,  or  the  political  power  of 
property.  It  leaves  the  individual  alongside  of  the 
individual.  No  nationality  of  character  could  take 
form,  except  on  the  principle  of  individuality,  so  that 
the  mind  might  be  free,  and  every  faculty  have  the 
unlimited  opportunity  for  its  development  and  cul- 
ture. As  the  sea  is  made  up  of  drops,  American  so- 
ciety is  composed  of  separate,  free,  and  constantly 
moving  atoms,  ever  in  reciprocal  action,  advancing, 
receding,  crossing,  struggling  against  each  other  and 
with  each  other;  so  that  the  institutions  and  laws 
of  the  country  rise  out  of  the  masses  of  individual 
thought,  which,  like  the  waters  of  the  ocean,  are  roll- 
in  i:^  evermore^ 

The  rule  of  individuality  was  extended  as  never 
before.     The  synod   of   the  Presbyterians   of   New 


THE    CONSTITUTION  325 

York  and  Philadelphia,  a  denomination  inflexibly  citap. 
devoted  to  its  own  creed,  in  their  pastoral  letter  of  .^.^^ 
May,  1783,  published  their  joy  that  "the  rights  of  i'^^'^- 
conscience  are  inalienably  secured  and  interwoven 
wdth  tlie  very  constitutions  of  the  several  states." 
Religion  was  become  avowedly  the  attribute  of  man 
and  not  of  a  corporation.  In  the  earliest  states 
known  to  history,  government  and  religion  w^ere  one 
and  indivisible.  Each  state  had  its  special  deity, 
and  of  these  protectors  one  after  another  might  be 
overthrown  in  battle,  never  to  rise  again.  The  Pelo- 
ponnesian  war  grew  out  of  a  strife  about  an  oracle. 
Rome,  as  it  sometimes  adopted  into  citizenship  those 
whom  it  vanquished,  introduced  in  like  manner,  and 
with  good  logic  for  that  day,  the  worship  of  their 
gods.  No  one  thought  of  vindicating  religion  "for 
the  conscience  of  the  individual  till  a  voice  in  Judea, 
breaking  day  for  the  greatest  epoch  in  the  life  of 
humanity  by  establishing  a  pure,  spiritual,  and  uni- 
versal religion  for  all  mankind,  enjoined  to  render  to 
Caesar  only  that  which  is  Caesar's.  The  rule  was  up- 
held during  the  infancy  of  the  gospel  for  all  men. 
No  sooner  was  this  religion  adopted  by  the  chief  of 
the  Roman  Empire,  than  it  was  shorn  of  its  character 
of  universality  and  enthralled  by  an  unholy  connec- 
tion with  the  unholy  state ;  and  so  it  continued  till 
the  new  nation — the  least  defiled  with  the  barren 
scoffings  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  most  general 
believer  in  Christianity  of  any  people  of  that  age,  the 
chief  heir  of  the  reformation  in  its  purest  form — when 
it  came  to  establish  a  government  for  the  United 
States,  refused  to  treat  faith  as  a  matter  to  be  regu- 


326  THE  FEDERAL  GOVERNMENT. 

CUAF.  lated  by  a  corporate  body,  or  liaving  a  headsliip  in  a 

■^^-^-^  Bionarcli  or  a  state. 

1 7  s  7.  Vindicating  the  riglit  of  individuality  even  in  re- 
ligion, and  in  religion  above  all,  the  new  nation  dared 
to  set  the  example  of  accepting  in  its  relations  to  God 
the  principle  first  divinely  ordained  in  Judea.  It  left 
the  management  of  temporal  things  to  the  temporal 
power;  bnt  the  American  constitution,  in  harmony 
with  the  people  of  the  several  states,  withheld  from 
the  federal  government  the  power  to  invade  the  home 
of  reason,  the  citadel  of  conscience,  the  sanctuaiy  of 
the  soul ;  and  not  from  indifference,  but  that  the  infi- 
nite spirit  of  eternal  truth  might  move  in  its  fi'eedom 
and  purity  and  power. 

With  this  perfect  individuality  extending  to  con- 
science, freedom  should  have  belonged  to  labor. 
What  though  slaveiy  existed  and  still  exists  in  the 
older  states  known  to  history,  in  Egypt,  in  China, 
coming  down  continuously  from  an  unknown  date ; 
what  though  Aristotle  knew  no  mode  of  instituting 
a  republican  household  but  with  a  slave  ;  and  Julius 
CsBsar,  when  Italy  was  perishing  by  the  vastness  of 
its  slave  estates,  crowded  them  with  new  hordes  of 
captives  ?  What  though  the  slave-trade  was  greedily 
continued  under  the  passionate  encouragement  of  the 
British  parliament,  and  that  in  nearly  all  of  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe  slavery  in  some  of  its  forms  pre- 
vailed ?  In  America,  freedom  of  labor  was  the  moral 
princijile  of  the  majority  of  the  people ;  was  estab- 
lislied,  or  moving  toAV'ard  immediate  establishment,  in 
a  majority  of  tlie  states ;  was  by  the  old  confedera- 
tion, with  the  promptest  and  oft-repeated  sanction  of 


THE  coisrsTiTUTioisr.  327 

tlie  new  government,  irrevocably  ordained  in  all  tlie  chap. 
territory  for  wliicli  tlie  United  States  could  at  that  — l^^ 
time  make  the  law.     The  federal  convention  could  i  *?  §  7. 
not  interfere  with  the  slave   laws  of   the  separate 
states ;  but  it  was  careful  to  impose  no  new  incapaci- 
tation on  free  persons  of  color ;  it  maintained  them  in 
all  the  rights  of  equal  citizenship ;  it  gi^anted  those 
rights  to  the  emancipated  slave ;  and  it  kept  to  itself 
the  authority  to  abolish  the  slave-trade  instantly  in 
any  territory  that  might  be  annexed ;  in  all  other 
states  and  lands,  at  the  earliest  moment  for  which  it 
had  been  able  to  obtain  power. 

The  tripartite  division  of  government  into  legisla- 
tive, executive,  and  judicial,  enforced  in  theory  by 
the  illustrious  Montesquieu,  and  practiced  in  the 
home  government  of  every  one  of  the  American 
states,  became  a  part  of  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  which  derived  their  mode  of  institut- 
ing it  from  their  own  happy  experience.  It  was 
established  by  the  federal  convention  with  a  rigid 
•  consistency  that  Avent  beyond  the  example  of  Britain, 
where  one  branch  of  the  legislature  still  remains  a 
court  of  appeal.  Each  one  of  the  three  departments 
proceeded  from  the  people,  and  each  is  endowed  with 
all  the  authority  needed  for  its  just  activity.  The 
president  may  recommend  or  dissuade  from  enact- 
ments, and  has  a  limited  veto  on  them ;  but  what- 
ever becomes  a  law  he  must  execute.  The  power  of 
the  legislature  to  enact  is  likewise  uncontrolled  ex- 
cept by  the  paramount  law  of  the  constitution.  The 
judiciary  passes  upon  every  case  that  may  be  present- 
ed, and  its  decision  on  the  case  is  definitive ;  but  with- 


328  THE  FEDEEAL  GOVEENMENT. 

CH.iP.  out  furtlier  authority  over  the  executive  or  the  legis- 
V— ^  lature,  for  the  convention  had  ^^isely  refused  to  make 
^'^^'^-  the  judges  a  council  to  either  of  them. 

Tripartite  division  takes  place  not  only  in  the 
threefold  powers  of  government ;  it  is  established  as 
the  mode  of  legislation.  There,  too,  three  powers, 
proceeding  from  the  people,  must  concur,  except  in 
cases  jDrovided  for,  before  an  act  of  legislation  can 
take  place.  This  tripartite  division  in  the  power  of 
leo:islation — so  at  the  time  wrote  Madison,  so  thousrht 
all  the  great  builders  of  the  constitution,  so  asserted 
John  Adams  with  vehemence  and  sound  reasoning — 
is  absolutely  essential  to  the  success  of  a  federal  re- 
public ;  for  if  all  legislative  powers  are  vested  in  one 
man  or  in  one  assembly,  there  is  despotism ;  if  in  two 
branches,  there  is  a  restless  antagonism  between  the 
t^vo ;  if  they  are  distributed  among  three,  it  will  be 
hard  to  unite  two  of  them  in  a  fatal  strife  with  the 
third.  But  the  executive,  and  each  of  the  two  cham- 
bers, must  be  so  chosen  as  to  have  a  character  and 
strength  and  popular  support  of  its  own.  Tlie  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  is  thoroughly  a  govern- 
ment of  the  people.  By  the  English  aristocratic  revo- 
lution of  1688,  made  after  the  failure  of  the  popular 
attempt  at  reform,  the  majority  of  the  house  of  com- 
mons was  in  substance  composed  of  nominees  of  the 
house  of  lords,  so  that  no  ministry  could  prevail  in  it 
except  by  the  power  of  that  house ;  and  as  the  prime 
minister  and  cabinet  depend  on  tlie  majority  in  the 
house  of  commons,  the  house  of  lords  directly  con- 
trolled tlie  government  not  only  in  its  own  branch 
but  in  the  commons,  and  tlirough  the  commons  in 


THE    CONSTITUTION-.  329 


tlie  nomination  of  tlie  ministry.     All  tliree  branclies  chap. 
of  the  government  were  in  liarmony,  for  all  tliree  ._^,1^ 
branclies  represented  the  aristocracy.'     In  the  United  1 7  s  y. 
States,  on  the  other  hand,  all  the  branches  of  power 
— president,   senators,  and   representatives — proceed 
dii'ectly  or  indirectly  from  the  people.     The  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  is  a  government  by  the  peo- 
ple, for  the  people. 

To  perfect  the  system  and  forever  prevent  revolu- 
tion, power  is  reserved  to  the  people  by  amendments 
of  their  constitution  to  remove  every  imperfection 
which  time  may  lay  bare,  and  adapt  it  to  unforeseen 
contingencies.  But  no  change  can  be  hastily  made. 
An  act  of  parliament  can  at  any  time  alter  the  consti- 
tution of  England ;  no  similar  power  is  delegated  to 
the  congress  of  the  United  States,  which,  like  parlia- 
ment, may  be  swayed  by  the  shifting  majorities  of 
party.  As  to  the  initiation  of  amendments,  it  could 
not  be  entrusted  to  the  president,  lest  it  might  lead 
him  to  initiate  changes  for  his  own  advantage ;  still 
less  to  a  judiciary  holding  office  for  life,  for,  sucli 
is  human  nature,  a  tribunal  so  constituted  and  decid- 
ing by  a  majority,  by  whatever  political  party  its 
members  may  have  been  named,  cannot  safely  be 
invested  with  so  transcendent  a  power.  The  legisla- 
tures of  the  states  or  of  the  United  States  are  alone 
allowed  to  open  the  "  constitutional  door  to  amend- 
ments ; "  and  these  can  be  made  valid  only  through 
the  combined  intervention  of  the  state  legislatures 
and  of  congress,  or  a  convention  of  all  the  states 

*  The  period  to  which  this  refers  after  the  various  reforms  in  the 
must  be  kept  in  mind;  the  British  mode  of  electing  the  house  of 
constitution  is  very  diilerent  now     commons. 


330  THE  FEDEKAL  GOVEENJIENT. 

CHAP,  elected  expressly  for  the  purpose  by  tlie  people  of 
v^-^  tlie  several  states.  In  this  way  no  cliange  of  tlie  cou- 
1  '^  ^  '^-  stitution  can  be  made  in  haste  or  by  stealth,  but  only 
by  the  consent  of  three  quarters  of  the  states  after  a 
full  and  free  and  often-repeated  discussion.  There  is 
no  legal  road  to  amendment  of  the  constitution  but 
through  the  consent  of  the  people  given  in  the  form 
prescribed  by  law.  America,  being  charged  with  the 
preservation  of  liberty,  has  the  most  conservative 
polity  in  the  world,  both  in  its  government  and  in 
its  people. 

The  new  nation  asserted  itself  as  a  continental  re- 
public. The  discovery  was  made  that  the  time  had 
passed  for  little  commonwealths  with  a  single  city  and 
its  environs.  The  great  Frederick,  who  had  scoffed  at 
the  idea  of  attempting  to  govern  an  imperial  domain 
without  a  king,  was  hardly  in  his  grave  when  a  com- 
monwealth of  more  than  twenty  degrees  in  each  di- 
rection, containing  from  the  first  an  area  six  or  seven 
times  as  lars-e  as  the  whole  of  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land,  fifty  or  sixty  times  as  great  as  the  Netherlands 
or  Switzerland,  able  to  include  more  than  a  thousand 
confederacies  as  large  as  the  Achaian,  and  ready  to 
admit  adjoining  lands  to  fellowship,  rose  up  in  the 
best  part  of  the  temperate  zone  on  a  soil  that  had 
been  collecting  fertility  for  untold  centuries.  The 
day  of  the  Greek  commonwealth  had  passed  forever ; 
and,  after  the  establishment  of  the  representative  sys- 
tem, it  was  made  known  that  a  republican  govern- 
ment thrives  best  in  a  vast  territory.  Monai'chy  had 
held  itself  a  necessity  for  the  formation  of  large 
states ;  but  now  it  was  found  out  that  monarchy  ca' 


THE   CONSTITUTIOlSr.  331 

be  dispensed  witli ;  and  the  world  was  summoned  to  chap. 

gaze  at  the  spectacle  of  a  boundless  society  of  repub-  ^ ^ — 

lican  states  in  union.  17  8  7. 

The  United  States  of  America  are  not  only  a  re- 
public, they  are  "  a  society  of  societies,"  "  a  federal 
republic." '  Toward  foreign  powers  the  country  has 
no  seam  in  its  gannent ;  it  exists  in  absolute  unity  as 
a  nation,  with  full  and  undisputed  national  resources. 
At  home  it  is  "  a  union,"  or  "  one  out  of  many ; "  but 
still,  within  its  own  sphere,  is  supreme  and  self-sup- 
porting. For  this  end  it  has  its  own  legislature  to 
make  enactments ;  its  own  functionaries  to  execute 
them ;  its  own  courts ;  its  own  treasury ;  and  it  alone 
may  have  an  amiy  and  a  navy.  All-sufficient  powers 
are  so  plainly  given  thai  there  is  no  need  of  striving 
for  more  by  straining  the  words  in  which  they  are 
granted  beyond  their  plain  and  natural  import. 

The  constitution,  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
made  in  pursuance  of  it,  and  all  treaties  framed  by 
their  authority,  are  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  bind- 
ing the  judges  in  every  state  even  if  need  be  in  spite 
of  the  constitution  and  the  laws  of  the  state ;  and  all 
executive,  legislative,  and  Judicial  officers,  both  of  the 
United  States  and  of  the  several  states,  are  to  be 
sworn  to  its  support.  The  constitution  provides 
mthin  itself  for  the  redress  of  every  wrong.  The 
supreme  court  offers  relief  in  a  "  case  "  of  injustice  or 
conflict  with  the  constitution ;  the  remedy  for  a  bad 
law  is  to  be  souofht  throuo^h  the  freedom  and  fre- 
quency  of  elections ;  a  fault  in  the  fundamental  law 
through  an  amendment. 

*  Words  used  by  Montesquieu,  Esprit  des  Lois,  livre  Lx.,  ch.  i. 


332  THE  FEDEEAL  GOVEENMENT. 

CHAP.       Aside  from  the  spliere  of  the  federal  government, 

~.^'. each  state  is  in  all  things  supreme,  not  by  grace,  but 

17  8  7.  of  right.  The  United  States  may  not  interfere  with 
any  ordinance  or  law  that  begins  and  ends  within  a 
state.  This  supremacy  of  the  states  in  the  powers 
which  have  not  been  granted  is  as  essentially  a  part 
of  the  system  as  the  supremacy  of  the  general  gov- 
ernment in  its  sphere.  The  states  are  at  once  the 
guardians  of  the  domestic  security  and  the  happiness 
of  the  individual,  and  they  are  the  parents,  the  pro- 
tectors, and  the  stay  of  the  union.  The  states  and  the 
United  States  are  members  of  one  great  whole ;  and 
the  one  is  as  needful  as  the  other.  The  powers  of 
government  are  not  divided  between  them ;  they  are 
distributed ;  so  that  there  need  be  no  collision  in  their 
exercise.  The  union  without  self-existent  states  is  a 
harp  without  strings ;  the  states  without  union  are  as 
chords  that  are  unstrunsr.  But  for  state  rio-hts  the 
union  would  perish  from  the  paralysis  of  its  limbs. 
The  states,  as  they  gave  life  to  the  union,  are  neces- 
sary to  the  continuance  of  that  life.  Within  their 
own  limits  they  are  the  guardians  of  industry,  of 
property,  of  personal  rights,  and  of  liberty.  But 
state  rights  are  to  be  defended  inside  of  the  union ; 
not  from  an  outside  citadel  from  which  the  union 
may  be  struck  at  or  defied.  The  states  and  the 
United  States  are  not  antagonists ;  the  states  in  union 
form  the  federal  republic ;  and  the  system  can  have 
life  and  health  and  strength  and  beauty  only  by  their 
harmonious  action.  In  short,  the  constitution  knows 
nothing  of  United  States  alone,  6t  states  alone ;  it 
adjusts  the  parts  hannoniously  in  an  organized  unity. 


THE    CONSTITUTION. 


Impair  tlie  relations  or  the  vigor  of  any  part,  and  dis-  chap, 


I. 


ease  enters  into  the  veins  of  the  whole.     Tbat  there 
may  be  life  in  the  whole,  there  must  be  healthy  life  i  '^  §  '^• 
in  every  j^art.     The  United  States  are  the  states  in 
union ;  these  are  so  inwrought  into  the  constitution 
that  the  one  cannot  perish  without  the  other. 

Is  it  asked  who  is  the  sovereign  of  the  United 
States  ?  The  words  "  sovereign  "  and  "  subjects  "  are 
unknown  to  the  constitution.  There  is  no  place  for 
princes  with  unlimited  power,  or  conquering  cities, 
or  feudal  chiefs,  or  privileged  aristocracies,  ruling 
absolutely  with  their  correlative  vassals  or  subjects. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  have  declared  in 
their  constitution  that  the  law  alone  is  supreme ;  and 
have  defined  that  supreme  law.  Is  it  asked  who  are  • 
the  people  of  the  United  States  that  instituted  the 
"  general  government "  ?  The  federal  convention  and 
the  constitution  answer,  that  it  is  the  concurring 
people  of  the  several  states.  The  constitution  is  con- 
stantly on  its  guard  against  permitting  the  action  of 
the  aggregate  mass  as  a  unit,  lest  the  whole  people, 
once  accustomed  to  acting  together  as  an  individual, 
mio-ht  foro-et  the  existence  of  the  states,  and  the 
states  now  in  union  succumb  to  centralization  and 
absolutism.  The  people  of  the  states  demanded  a 
federal  convention  to  form  the  constitution ;  the  con- 
gress of  the  confederation,  voting  by  states,  author- 
ized that  federal  convention  ;  the  federal  convention, 
voting  likewise  by  states,  made  the  constitution ;  at 
the  advice  of  the  federal  convention  the  federal  con- 
gress referred  that  constitution  severally  to  the  peo- 
ple of  each  state;  and  by  their  united  voice  taken 


334  THE  FEDEEAL  GOVERNMENT. 

CHAP,  severally  it  was  made  tlie  binding  form  of  govem- 
.^^.^  ment.  The  constitution,  as  it  owes  its  life  to  the 
i'^^'^-  concurrent  act  of  the  people  of  the  several  states, 
permits  no  method  of  amending  itself  except  by  the 
several  consent  of  the  people  of  the  states;  and 
within  the  constitution  itself,  the  president,  the  only 
officer  who  has  an  equal  relation  to  every  state  in  the 
union,  is  elected  not  by  the  aggregate  people  of  all 
the  states,  but  by  the  people  of  the  several  states 
according  to  the  number  of  votes  allotted  to  each  of 
them. 

Finally,  there  is  one  more  great  and  happy  fea- 
ture in  the  constitution.  Rome,  in  annexing  the  cities 
around  itself,  had  not  given  them  equal  influence  with 
itself  in  proportion  to  their  wealth  and  numbers,  and 
consequently  there  remained  a  cause  of  dissatisfaction 
never  healed.  America  has  pro\'ided  for  admission 
of  new  states  upon  equal  teiins  mth  tlie  old  ones. 

For  Europe,  there  remained  the  sad  necessity  of 
revolution.  For  America,  the  gates  of  revolution 
are  shut  and  barred  and  bolted  down,  never  again 
to  be  tlirown  open ;  for  it  has  found  a  legal  and  a 
peaceful  way  to  introduce  every  amelioration.  Peace 
and  intercitizenship  and  perfect  domestic  free  trade 
are  to  know  no  end.  Tlie  constitution  is  to  the  Amer 
ican  people  a  possession  for  all  ages ;  it  creates  an 
indissoluble  union  of  imperishable  states. 

The  federal  republic  will  carry  tranquillity,  and 
freedom,  and  order  throughout  its  vast  domain.  Will 
it,  within  less  than  a  century,  extend  its  limits  to  the 
capes  of  Florida,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  to 
the  region  beyond  the  Mississippi,  to  California,  to 


THE   CONSTTTUTIOISr.  335 

Oregon,  to  San  Juan  ?  Will  it  show  all  tlie  Spanish  chap. 
colonies  liow  to  transform,  themselves  into  inclepen-  — '^ — 
dent  republics  stretching  along  the  Pacific  till  they  i  *?  s  7. 
turn  Cape  Horn  ?  Will  it  be  an  example  to  France, 
teaching  its  great  benefactor  how  to  gain  free  institu- 
tions? Will  it  assist  the  liberal  statesmen  of  the 
country  from  which  it  broke  away  to  bring  parlia- 
ment more  nearly  to  a  representation  of  the  people  ? 
Will  it  assist  the  birthplace  of  the  reformation  to 
gather  together  its  scattered  members  and  become 
once  more  an  empire,  with  a  government  so  entirely 
the  child  of  the  nation  that  it  shall  have  but  one  hered- 
itary functionary,  with  a  federal  council  or  senate 
representing  the  several  states,  and  a  house  elected  • 
directly  by  universal  suffrage  ?  Will  it  teach  Eng- 
land herself  how  to  give  peace  to  her  groups  of  colo- 
nies, her  greatest  achievement,  by  establishing  for 
them  a  federal  republican  dominion,  in  one  continent 
at  least  if  not  in  more?  And  will  America  send 
manumitted  dark  men  home  to  their  native  conti- 
nent, to  introduce  there  an  independent  republic  and 
missions  that  may  help  to  civilize  the  races  of  Africa  ? 
The  philosophy  of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
was  neither  that  of  optimism  nor  of  despair.  Be- 
lieving in  the  justice  of  "  the  Great  Governor  of  the 
world,"  and  conscious  of  their  own  honest  zeal  in  the 
cause  of  freedom  and  mankind,  they  looked  with  as- 
tonishment at  their  present  success  and  at  the  future 
with  unclouded  hope. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  LINGERING   STATES. 

1787-1789. 

When  tlie  constitution  was  referred  to  tlie  states 
Hamilton  revived  a  long  clierislied  plan,  and,  obtain- 
17  8  7.  jj^g  ^]^g  ^j(j  Qf  jg^y  a^(j  Madison,  issued  papers  which 
lie  called  The  Federalist,  to  prepare  all  the  states 
and  the  people  for  accejDting  the  determinations  of 
the  federal  convention.  Of  its  eighty-five  numbers. 
Jay  wrote  five,  Madison  twenty-nine,  and  Hamilton 
fifty-one.'     They  form  a  work  of  enduring  interest, 

'Mr.    Miidison'9  lis<t  of  the   au-     No.  48,  J.  M.  No.  49,  J.  M.  No.  50,  J.  M. 
thors  of  The  Federalist  :  No.  51,  J.  il.  Xo.  52,  J.  M.  No.  53,  J.  M. 

Number  1  by  A.  H.  X«.  2,  J.  J.      ^o.  54  J  M    No.  55,  J  M.  No.  56.  J.  M. 

No.  3,  J.  J. 'n«.  4,  J.  J.     No.5  J.J.      ^"^.'f-J-^^''-^-^-  i.°-St     • 
No.  0,  A.  II.     No.  7  A.  II.     No.  8,  A.  II.       ^o.  GO,  A.  II.  No.  (.1  A  II.  No.  G2,  J.  M. 

No.9A.II.    No.lO,J.M.  No.ll,A.H.     ^^JM-^/,  ^."- ?5' f"//  5^"-f,'|f  " 
No.  1 2,  A.  II.  No.  1 3.  A.  II.  No.  1 4  J.  .M.     Jo.  G(,,  A.     .  No.  G  t  A.     .  No.  6S,  A.  I  . 

No.l,V\.II.  No.in,A.II.  No.17  A.II.  ^^':■^i■     "  K'-^i't     '  x"?]'^  H 

No.18  J..M.   No.iy  J..M.  No.2..,J.M.  No.72,A.     .  No-HA-J.  No.74,A.   I. 

No.21   A.H.  No.  22  A.II.  No.  2  VV.  H.  ^°  ^^V     •  ^>r''^Vl-  S""  In' f  u ' 

No.2t;A.II.  No.25;A.n.  No.20;A.II.  No  78,  A.  II.  No.79,A.II.  No.SO.A.U., 

No.  27,  A.  H.  No.  2M,  A.  II.  Vo.  2!>,  A.  II.  ^"^^  *»  the  end. 

xt"-  'i'>  *y  !I"  X'"-  ol' '}■  II-  v"-  ^'^  ^  II-  ^^of.  in  Mr.  Mmllxon'i*  own  hand. 

No.  33,  A.H.  No.  34,  A.  II.  No.  8!),  A.H.  .^  •,     i.    i    x      ht 

No.3(i,A.  H.  No.37,J.  M.  No.  3S,,T.  M.  ^^-   1*^' !«  attributed    to    Mr. 

No.  3'.»,  J.  .M.  No.  40,  J.  M.  No.41,  J.  .M.  Hamilton  and  Mr.  Madison  jointly. 

No.  42,  J.  M.  No.  i:;,  J.  M.  No.  11,  J.  M.  A.  II.  had  drawn  U]i  sonicthinir  on 

No.45,  J.M.  No.  4G,  J.  M.  No.  47,  J.  M.  the  subjects  of  this  (No.  18j  and 


THE   FEDERALIST. 


537 


CITAP, 
II. 


17  87. 


because  tliey  are  tlie  earliest  commentary  on  tlie  new 
experiment  of  mankind  in  establishing  a  republican 
government  for  a  country  of  boundless  dimensions ; 
and  were  written  by  Madison,  who  was  the  chief  au- 
thor of  the  constitution,  and  Hamilton,  who  took  part 
in  its  inception  and  progress. 

Hamilton  dwelt  on  the  defects  of  the  confedera-  i788 
tion;  the  praiseworthy  energy  of  the  new  federal 
government ;  its  relations  to  the  public  defence ;  to 
the  functions  of  the  executive ;  to  the  judicial  depart- 
ment ;  to  the  treasury ;  and  to  commerce.  Him- 
self a  friend  to  the  protection  of  manufactures,  he 
condemned  "  exorbitant  duties  on  imported  articles," 


the  two  next  Nos.  (19  and  20). 
On  finding  that' J.  M.  was  engaged 
in  them  with  larger  materials,  and 
with  a  view  to  a  more  precise  de- 
lineation, he  put  what  he  had  writ- 
ten into  the  hands  of  J.  M.  It  is 
possible,  though  not  recollected, 
that  something  in  the  draught  may 
have  been  incorjoorated  into  the 
numbers  as  printed.  But  it  was 
certainly  not  of  a  nature  or  amount 
to  affect  the  impression  left  on  the 
mind  of  J.  M. ,  from  whose  pen  the 
papers  went  to  the  press,  that  they 
were  of  the  class  written  by  him. 
As  the  historical  materials  of  A.  H. , 
as  far  as  they  went,  were  doubt- 
less similar,  or  the  same  with  those 
provided  by  J.  M.,  and  as  a  like 
application  of  them  probably  oc- 
curred to  both,  an  impression 
might  be  left  on  the  mind  of  A.  H. 
that  the  Nos.  in  question  were 
written  jointly.  These  remarks 
are  made  as  well  to  account  for  a 
statement  to  that  effect,  if  made 
by  A.  H.,  as  in  justice  to  J.  M., 
who,  always  regarding  them  in 
a  different  light,  had  so  stated 
them  to  an  enquiring  friend,  long 
before  it  was  known  or  supposed 


YOL.  U. 


22 


that  a  different  impression  exist- 
ed anywhere. 

(Signed)  _  J.  M." 
There  exists  no  list  of  the  au- 
thors of  The  Federalist  by  the  hand 
of  Hamilton.  There  exists  no  au- 
thentic copy  of  any  list  that  may 
have  been  made  by  Hamilton.  It 
is  a  great  wrong  to  Hamilton's 
memory  to  insist  that  he  claimed 
the  autliorshij)  of  jiapers  which 
were  written  for  him  at  his  request 
by  another,  and  which  the  com- 
l^letest  evidence  proves  that  he 
could  not  have  written.  The  list 
of  the  authors  of  the  several  pa- 
joers  given  above  rests  on  the  writ- 
ten authority  of  Madison.  From 
this  list  Madison  has  never  been 
known  to  vary  in  the  slightest  de- 
gree. The  correctness  of  his 
statement  is  substantiated  beyond 
room  for  a  cavil  by  various  evi- 
dence. Meeting  an  assertion  that 
Madison  in  some  paper  in  the  de- 
partment of  state  had  changed 
one  figure  in  his  list,  I  requested  a 
former  secretary  of  state  to  order 
a  search  to  be  made  for  it.  A' 
search  was  made,  and  no  such  pa- 
per was  found. 


Jan. 


338  THE   FEDERAL  .GOVEENMEIfT. 

CHAP,  because  tliey  "  beget  smuggling,"  are  "  always  preju- 
— ^^  dicial  to  tlie  fair  trader,  and  eventually  to  tlie  revenue 
^1^8-  itself ; "   tend  to  render   " other  classes   of  tlie  com- 

Jan.  ■       ,  '  , 

8.  munity  tributary  in  an  improper  degree  to  the  manu- 
facturing classes,"  to  "  give  tliem  a  premature  monop- 
oly of  the  markets ; "  to  "  force  industry  out  of  its 
most  natural  channels,"  and  to  "  oppress  the  mer- 
chant." * 

Madison  commented  with  severe  wisdom  on  its 
plan ;  its  conformity  to  republican  principles ;  its  pow- 
ers ;  its  relation  to  slavery  and  the  slave-trade ;  its 
mediating  office  between  the  union  and  the  states ; 
its  tripartite  separation  of  the  departments ;  and  its 
mode  of  constructing  the  house  of  representatives. 
Hamilton  began  the  work  by  saying  that  a  wrong 
decision  would  not  only  be  "  the  dismemberment  of 
the  union,"  but  "the  general  misfortune  of  man- 
kind ; " "  he  closed  with  the  words :  "  A  nation  with- 
out a  national  government  is  an  awful  spectacle.  The 
establishment  of  a  constitution,  in  time  of  profound 
peace,  by  the  voluntary  consent  of  a  whole  people,  is 
a  prodigy,  to  the  completion  of  which  I  look  forward 
with  trembling  anxiety." '  During  the  time  in  which 
the  constitution  was  in  jeopardy  Hamilton  and  Madi- 
son cherished  for  each  other  intimate  and  affectionate 
relations,  differing  in  temperament,  but  one  in  pur- 
pose and  in  action.  To  the  day  of  their  death  they 
both  were  loyally  devoted  to  the  cause  of  union. 

New  York,  having  the  most  convenient  harbor  for 
world-wide  commerce,  rivers  flowing  directly  to  the 

^  Tlio  F(;floralist,  xxxv.  *  The  Federalist,  Lxxxv. 

'  The  Federalist,  i. 


THE    CONSTITUTIO]!?"   IK   NEW   YOEK.  339 

sea,  to  Delaware  bay,  to  tlie  Chesapeake,  to  tlie  Mis-  cn.vp. 
sissippi,  and  to  the  watercourse  of  the  St.  La\vrence,  ^— ^^^ 
and  having  the  easiest  line  of  communication  from  1*7  8  8, 
the  ocean  to  the  great  West,  needed,  more  than  any 
other  state,  an  efficient  government;  and  yet  of  the 
thii'teen  it  was  the  most  stubborn  in  opposition. 
More  than  haK  the  goods  consumed  in  Connecticut, 
in  New  Jersey,  in  Vermont,  and  the  western  parts  of 
Massachusetts,  were  bought  within  its  limits  and  j)aid 
an  impost  for  its  use.'  During  the  war  it  agreed  to 
give  congress  power  to  collect  a  five  per  cent  impost ; 
as  soon  as  it  regained  possession  of  the  city  it  pre- 
ferred to  appropriate  the  revenue  to  its  own  pur- 
poses ;  and  as  a  consequence,  the  constitution  called 
forth  in  New  York  the  fiercest  resistance  that  selfish 
interests  could  organize. 

To  meet  the  influence  of  The  Federalist,  the  repub- 
licans published  inflammatory  tracts,  and  circulated 
large  editions  of  the  Letters  from  the  Federal  FaiTaer 
by  Richard  Henry  Lee.  They  named  themselves  fed- 
eral republicans.  Their  electioneering  centre  was 
the  New  York  custom-house,  then  an  institution  of 
the  state  with  John  Lamb  as  collector.  After  the 
fashion  of  the  days  of  danger  they  formed  a  commit- 
tee of  correspondence  and  sought  connections  through- 
out the  land.  They  sent  their  own  emissaries  to 
attend  the  proceedings  of  the  Massachusetts  conven- 
tion, and,  if  possible,  to  frustrate  its  acceptance  of  the 
union.  Their  letters  received  answers  from  Lowndes, 
from  Henry  and  Grayson,  from  Atherton  of  New 
Hampshii'e,  and  from  Richard  Henry  Lee  who  told 

*  Williamson  to  Iredell,  7  July,  1788.     McRee's  Iredell,  ii.  227,  238. 


340  THE    FEDEEAL    GOVEENJIEl^fT. 

CHAP,  tliem  tliat  "tlie  constitution  was  an  elective  despot- 

II.     .      „  ^ 

W-, —  ism. 

'^l^^-       At  the  reofular  meetins;  of  the  leofislature  in  Janu- 

Jan.  o  DO 

ary,  1788,  Clinton  recommended  the  encouragement 
of  commerce  and  of  manufactm*es,  but  sent  in  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  federal  convention  without  remark.' 
All  others  remaining  silent  for  twenty  days,  Egbert 
31.  Benson,  on  the  last  day  of  January,  proposed  a  state 
convention  in  the  precise  mode  recommended  by  con- 
gress. Schoonmaker  offered  a  preamble,  condemning 
the  federal  convention  for  having  exceeded  its  powers. 
Benson  conducted  the  debate  with  rare  ability,  and 
the  amended  preamble  gained  but  twenty-five  votes 
against  twenty-seven.  In  the  senate  the  motion  to 
postpone  the  question  mustered  but  nine  votes  against 
ten.  The  convention  was  ordered ;  but  in  its  choice 
the  constitutional  qualifications  of  electors  were  thrust 
aside,  and  every  free  male  citizen  of  twenty-one  years 
of  age,  though  he  had  been  a  resident  but  for  a  day, 
might  be  a  voter  and  be  voted  for. 

According  to  the  wish  of  the  Virginia  opposition 
the  time  for  the  meeting  of  the  convention  was  de- 
layed till  the  seventeenth  of  June.  Of  its  sixty-five 
members  more  than  two  thirds  were  enemies  to  the 
constitution."  But  it  was  found  that  the  state  was 
divided  geographically.  The  seat  of  02')position  was 
in  Ulster  county,  the  home  of  Governor  Clinton,  and 
it  extended  to  the  counties  above  it.  The  southern 
counties  on  the  Hudson  river  and  on  Long  Island, 
and  the  city  of  New  York,  were  so  unanimously  for 
union  as  to  encourage  the  rumor  that  they  ^vould  at 

'Ind.  Gazetteer,  19  Jan.,  1788.  '^  Ilamilton,  i.  454. 


THE    CONSTITUTION   IN   NEW    YOEK.  341 


all  events  adhere  to  it.    Clinton  himself  beofan  to  think  cnAP. 

.  II 

it  absolutely  necessary  that  the  state  should  in  some  v^^^ 

form  secure  a  representation  under  the  new  constitu-  i '''  §  s. 

tion/ 

The  greater  number  of  his  friends  were,  like  him, 
averse  to  its  total  rejection ;  but,  w^hile  some  were 
willing  to  be  content  with  recommendatory  amend- 
ments, and  others  with  explanatory  ones,  to  settle 
doubtful  constructions,  the  majority  seemed  unwill- 
ing to  be  reconciled  with  less  than  previous  amend- 
ments. All  the  while  the  people  of  the  state  were 
drifting  toward  union." 

Fifteen  days  after  the  organization  of  the  Virginia  June 
convention  that  of  New  York  met  at  Poughkeepsie  ^^' 
and  unanimously  elected  Clinton  as  its  president. 
Among  the  delegates  of  the  city  of  New  York  were 
Jay,  Chief-Justice  Morris,  Hobart,  Livingston  then 
chancellor  of  the  state,  Duane,  and  Hamilton.  On 
the  other  side  the  foremost  men  were  Georo-e  Clin- 
ton,  the  governor;  Yates  and  Lansing,  who  had 
deserted  the  federal  convention  under  the  pretence 
that  it  was  exceeding  its  power ;  Samuel  Jones,  a 
member  of  the  New  York  bar,  who  excelled  in  clear- 
ness of  intellect,  moderation,  and  simplicity  of  charac- 
ter;' and  Melancthon  Smith,  a  man  of  a  religious 
cast  of  mind,  familiar  with  metaphysical  discussions, 
of  undaunted  courage,  and  gifted  with  the  power  of 
moderation.* 

On  the  nineteenth  the  chancellor  opened  the  debate,     19. 

*  Cyrus  Griffin,  President  of  the  *  Thompson's   Long    Island,    ii. 

Continental  Congress,   to  Thomas  504,  505. 

Fitzsimons,  16  June,  1788.     MS.  *  Thompson's   Long   Island,    ii. 

»  Compare  Jay's  Jay,  i.  268.  495. 


342  THE   FEDEEAL    GOYERjSTMEJS^T. 

CHAP.  slioTving  tlie  superiority  of  a  republic  to  a  confederacy ; 

.— ,-^  mtliout  a  strong  federal  government  and  union  Kew 

yss.  York  was  incapable  of  self-defence,  and  tlie  British 

19-     posts  within  the  limits  of  the  state  would  continue 

to  form  connections  ^yiih.  hostile  tribes  of  Indians, 

and  be  held  in  defiance  of  the  most  solemn  treaties.' 

In  the  course  of  the  discussion  every  objection  that 
had  been  made  to  the  constitution  either  in  Massa- 
chusetts or  in  Virginia  was  strongly  stated ;  and  re- 
20.  plied  to.  Lansing,  adhering  to  the  system  of  the  con- 
federation, loved  union;  but  loved  liberty  more.* 
Melancthon  Smith  declared'  himself  most  strongly 
impressed  wdth  the  necessity  of  union,  and  refused 
to  say  that  the  federal  constitution  was  at  war  ^Yit\l 
public  liberty.  Hamilton,  sj)eaking  in  the  spii'it  of 
gentleness  and  wisdom,  contrasted  the  method  of 
requisitions  to  be  enforced  by  coercion  of  the  states, 
with  general  laws  operating  directly  on  individuals ; 
and  he  showed  how  greatly  the  new  system  excelled 
in  simplicity,  in  efficiency,  in  resj)ect  for  personal 
rights,  in  the  protection  of  the  public  liberty,  and, 
above  all,  in  humanity. 
24.  On  the  twenty-fourth  swift  riders,  despatched  by 
Langdon,  brought  to  Hamilton  the  tidings  that  New 
Hampshire  as  the  ninth  state  had  assented  to  the  con- 
stitution ;  yet  the  vote  did  not  decide  New  York. 
"  Our  chance  of  success  depends  upon  you,"  wrote 
Hamilton  to  Madison.  "  Symptoms  of  relaxation 
in  some  of  the  leaders  authorize  a  gleam  of  hope  if 
you  do  well,  but  cei-taiuly  I  think  npt  otherwise." ' 

•  Elliot,  ii.  208-210.  »  Hamilton's  Works,  i.  4G3. 

'  Elliot,  ii.  2 ID. 


THE    COiSrSTTTUTIOX   EST   ]N'EW   TOEK.  343 

Clinton  claimed  tliat  lie  and  liis  own  partisans  were  chap. 
"  tlie  fi'iends  to  tlie  riglits  of  mankind ; "  tlieii'  oppo-  v^-,^^ 
nents  "  the  advocates  of  despotism ; "  "  the  most  that  i  ^  ^  8. 
had  been  said  by  the  new  government  men  had  been     24. 
but  a  second  edition  of  The  Federalist  well  delivered. 
One  of  the  Kew  York  delegates,"  meaning  Hamilton, 
"  had  in  substance,  though  not  explicitly,  thrown  off 
the  mask,  his  arguments  tending  to  show  the  neces- 
sity of  a  consolidated  continental  government  to  the 
exclusion  of  any  state  government." 

On  the  twenty-seventh  Hamilton  replied  by  a  full  27. 
declaration  of  his  opinions.  "  The  establishment  of  a 
republican  government  on  a  safe  and  solid  basis  is 
the  wish  of  every  honest  man  in  the  United  States, 
and  is  an  object,  of  all  others,  the  nearest  and  most 
dear  to  my  o\Yn  heart.  This  great  pui^Dose  requu'es 
strength  and  stability  in  the  organization  of  the  gov- 
ernment, aud  vigor  in  its  operations.  The  state  gov- 
ernments are  essentially  necessary  to  the  form  and 
spirit  of  the  general  system.*  With  the  representa- 
tive system  a  very  extensive  country  may  be  gov- 
erned by  a  confederacy  of  states  in  which  the  supreme 
legislature  has  only  general  j)owers,  and  the  civil  and 
domestic  concerns  of  the  people  are  regulated  by  the 
laws  of  the  several  states.  State  governments  must 
form  a  leading  principle.  They  can  never  lose  their 
powers  till  the  whole  people  of  America  are  robbed 
of  their  liberties." ' 

In  answer  to  Hamilton  on  this  and  two  other  oc-   June- 
casions,  Clinton  carefully  set  forth  the  principles  on 

'  Elliot,  ii.  301,  304.     For  Ham-     [not  of  those  in  July],  see  Hamil- 
ilton's  brief  of  Ms  speeches  in  June    ton,  ii.  463^66. 

=  Elliot,  ii.  353-355. 


344  THE  FEDERAL  GOVEENMENT. 

CHAP,  wliicli  lie  reposed.  During  tlie  war  he  Lad  wished 
for  a  strong  federal  government ;  he  still  wished  a 
federal  republic  for  the  mutual  protection  of  the  states 
and  the  security  of  their,  equal  rights.  In  such  a 
confederacy  there  should  be  a  perfect  representation ; 
but  of  that  representation  "  the  states  are  the  creative 
principle,"  and,  having  equal  rights,  ought  for  their 
protection  to  be  equally  represented.  The  delegates 
and  the  senators  of  a  state  should  be  subject  to  its  in- 
stnictions  and  liable  to  be  recalled  at  its  pleasure,  for 
the  representation  should  be  an  exact  and  continuous 
representation  of  its  reflection  and  judgment  and  will. 
Moreover,  the  senators  should  vote  in  their  place  not 
as  individuals,  but  collectively,  as  the  representation 
of  the  state.  He  would  further  have  the  members 
of  congress  depend  on  the  states  for  support.  Above 
all  he  abhorred  the  idea  of  reducino:  the  states  to  the 
degraded  situation  of  petty  corporations  and  render- 
ing them  liable  to  suits.  "The  sovereignty  of  the 
states  he  considered  the  only  stable  security  for  the 
liberties  of  the  people  against  the  encroachments  of 
power." ' 
July  On  the  third  of  July,  while  the  convention  was  still 
en:xaj2:ed  in  considerinor  the  constitution,  and  notinsr 
the  propositions  of  amendments,  the  decisive  news  of 
the  unconditional  ratification  of  the  constitution  by 
Virginia  broke  on  its  members ;  and  from  that  moment 
it  was  certain  that  they  would  not  venture  to  stand 
alone  against  the  judgment  of  every  state  in  New 
England  except  Ilhode  Island,  and  every  other  state 

*  This  summary  of  three  speech-  heard  from,  is  fompilod  from  the 
cs  made  by  Clinton,  one  in  .lime,  manuscripts  of  Clinton  preserved 
two   in   July,  uftcr    Virginia   wiis     in  the  state  library  at  Albany. 


3. 


THE   COlSrSTITUTIOlSr   IN   NEW   YOEK.  345 

except  Nortli  Carolina.     The  question  at  first  became  chap. 

whetlier  the  constitution  should  be  accepted  with  or  .^,-1^ 

without  previous  amendments.    On  the  tenth  Lansinor  ^1^,^- 
.  .  .  J"iy 

offered  a  bill  of  rights,  to  which  no  one  objected ;  and     lo. 

numerous  amendments/  of  which  the  class  relating  to 
a  standing  army  in  time  of  peace,  direct  taxes,  the 
militia,  and  elections  to  cono-ress  were  made  condi- 
tions  of  the  ratification.  After  they  were  read,  the 
convention,  on  the  proposal  of  Lansing,  adjourned, 
leaving  an  informal  committee  of  equal  numbers  of 
both  parties  to  bring  the  business  by  compromise  to  a 
quick  and  friendly  decision.  In  the  committee  Jay 
declared  that  the  word  "  conditional  "  must  be  erased 
before  any  discussion  of  the  merits  of  the  amend- 
ments. As  this  point  was  refused,  the  committee  was 
dissolved ;  but  already  Melancthon  Smith  and  Samuel 
Jones  showed  siojns  of  relentino-. 

On  the  eleventh  Jay,  taking  the  lead,  moved  the  ii. 
ratification  of  the  constitution  and  the  recommenda- 
tion of  amendments.  After  a  long  debate,  IMelancthon 
Smith  inteqoosed  wdth  a  resolution  which  meant  in 
substance  that  New  York  would  join  the  union,  re- 
servins:  the  risrht  to  recede  from  it  if  the  desired 
amendments  should  not  be  accepted.  Against  this 
motion  Hamilton,  after  vainly  proposing  a  form  of 
ratification '  nearly  similar  to  that  of  Virginia,  spoke 
on  Saturday,  the  nineteenth,  mth  such  prevailing  19. 
force,  that  Smith  confessed  himself  persuaded  to  re- 
linquish it.  At  this  Lansing  revived  the  proposition 
to  enter  the  union,  but  only  with  a  reserved  right 

*  Pcnn.  Packet,  18  July,  1788  ;  "  Hamilton,  ii,  467-471. 

Ind.  Gazetteer,  18  July,  1788. 


346  THE   FEDEEAL    GOVEE]SrME:srT. 

CHAP,  to  witlidraw  from  it ;  and  on  tlie  following  Monday 
the  question  miglit  be  taken/  Meantime  Madison 
Laving  resumed  liis  place  in  congress,  Hamilton  wrote 
in  all  haste  for  Ms  advice.  On  Sunday,  Madison 
speeded  an  answer  to  Pouglikeepsie,  and  on  tlie 
morning  of  the  twenty-first  Hamilton  read  to  the 
convention  its  words,  which  w^ere  as  follows  : 

"My  opinion  is,  that  a  reservation  of  a  right  to 
withdraw,  if  amendments  be  not  decided  on  under 
the  form  of  the  constitution  within  a  certain  time,  is 
a  conditional  ratification ;  that  it  does  not  make  New 
York  a  member  of  the  new  union,  and,  consequently, 
that  she  could  not  be  received  on  that  plan.  The 
constitution  requires  an  adoption  m  toto  and  forever. 
It  has  been  so  adopted  by  the  other  states.  An 
adoption  for  a  limited  time  would  be  as  defective  as 
an  adoption  of  some  of  the  articles  only.  In  short, 
any  condition  whatever  must  satiate  the  ratification. 
The  idea  of  reservins;  a  risfht  to  mthdraw  was  started 
at  Richmond,  and  considered  as  a  conditional  ratifi- 
cation, which  was  itself  abandoned  as  worse  than 
a  rejection."* 

The  voice  of  Virginia,  heard  through  Madison,  was 
effective.  Following  the  example  of  Massachusetts, 
and  appropriating  the   words   of  its  governor,   on 

23,  the  twenty-third  Samuel  Jones,  supported  by  Me- 
lancthon  Smith,  proposed,  like  Hancock,  to  make 
no  "  condition "  and  to  ratify  the  constitution  "  in 
full  confidence  "  of  the  adoption  of  all  needed  ameud- 

24.  ments.     Lansing's   motion   for  conditions  was  nega- 

*  For  the  liittor  part  of  llu;  con-     pendent  Gazetteer  for  July,  1788, 
vcntion  tliore  is  need  to  resort  to     whore  details  are  j^fiven. 
the   Tcuu.  Packet  and  the   Inde-         ^  Hamilton's  Works,  i.  4G5. 


THE    COlSrSTITUTIOlS"   ES"   NEW   YOEK.  347 

tivecl  in  committee  by  a  vote  of  tliirty-one  to  t^veuty-  chap. 
eiglit,  and  on  Friday,  tlie  twenty-fifth,  the  convention  ^-.^ 
aofreed  to  the  report  of  its  committee  of  the  whole  in  ^  ^  •?  ^• 

O  -L  July 

favor  of  the  fonn  of  Samuel  Jones  and  Melancthon  23. 
Smith  by  thirty  yeas  to  t^venty-five  nays,  the  largest 
vote  on  any  close  division  during  the  whole  session. 
This  vote  was  purchased  at  the  price  of  consenting 
to  the  unanimous  resolution,  that  a  circular  letter 
be  prepared  to  be  laid  before  the  different  legisla- 
tures of  the  United  States  recommending  a  general 
convention  to  act  upon  the  proposed  amendments  of 
the  different  leo;islatures  of  the  United  States.  On 
Saturday,  the  t^venty -sixth,  the  form  of  ratification  of  26. 
the  constitution  was  agreed  to  by  a  vote  of  thirty 
against  twenty-seven.  More  persons  were  absent  from 
the  vote  than  would  have  been  necessary  to  change 
it.  On  the  folloAving  Monday  'New  York  invited  the  28. 
governors  of  the  several  states  in  the  union  to  take 
immediate  and  effectual  measures  for  calling  a  second 
federal  convention  to  amend  the  constitution.  "  AYe 
are  unanimous,"  said  Clinton,  "  in  thinking  this  meas- 
ure very  conducive  to  national  harmony  and  good 
government."  Madison,  as  he  read  the  letter,  called 
the  proposal  a  pestilent  one,  and  Washington  was 
touched  ^^ath  sorrow  that  just  as  the  constitution  was 
about  to  anchor  in  harbor  it  might  be  driven  back  to 
sea. 

But  the  city  of  New  York  set  no  bounds  to  its 
gladness  at  the  acceptance  of  the  constitution ;  the 
citizens  paraded  in  a  procession  unrivalled  in  splen- 
dor. The  miniature  ship  which  was  drawn  through 
the  streets  bore  the  name  of  Hamilton.     For  him 


348  TILE    FEDERAL    GOVERNMENT. 

CHAP,  tills   was   liis    liapinest   moment   of    unclouded   tri- 

— . —  umpli. 

1 7  s  8.  Kortli  Carolina  held  its  convention  before  the  result 
in  New  York  was  known.  The  state  wanted  geo- 
graphical unity.  A  part  of  its  territory  west  of  the 
mountains  had  an  irregular  separate  organization  un- 
der the  name  of  Frankland.  Of  the  rest  there  was 
no  natural  centre  from  which  a  general  opinion  could 
emanate ;  besides,  toward  the  general  government  the 
state  was  delinquent,  and  it  had  not  yet  shaken  from 
itself  the  bewildering  influence  of  paper  money. 

June        "In   this   crisis,"   wrote  Washinsfton,  "the  wisest 

28  .  . 

way  for  North  Carolina  will  be  to  adjourn  untd  the 
people  in  some  parts  of  the  state  can  consider  the 
magnitude  of  the  question,  and  the  consequences  in- 
volved in  it,  more  coolly  and  deliberately.'"  The 
convention,   which    consisted   of    two   hundred   and 

July  eighty-four  members,  assembling  on  the  twenty-first 
of  July,  elected  as  its  president  Johnston,  then  gov- 
ernor of  the  state ;  organized  itself  with  tranquillity 
and  dignity ;  and  proceeded  to  discuss  the  constitu- 
tion in  committee,  clause  by  clause.     The  convention 

23-     employed  eight  days  in  its  able  debates,  of  which 
i°"    veiy  full  and  fair  accounts  have  been  preserved. 

First  among  the  federalists,'  and  the  mastermind  of 
the  convention,  was  James  Iredell,  who,  before  he  was 
forty  years  old,  was  placed  by  Washington  on  the 
supreme  bench  of  the  United  States.  He  was  sup- 
ported by  AVilliam  Richardson  Davie,  who  had  gained 
honor  in  the  Avar  and  at  the  bar,  and  afterward  held 

'  Sparks,  ix.  390,  391.  '  McRec's  Iredell,   ii.   180-183  ; 

for  instruction  an  invaluable  work. 


21. 


An 


THE    CONSTITUTION   IN   NOETH    CAROLINA.  349 

liigli  places  in  North  Carolina  and  in  tlie  union ;  Ly  chap. 
Samuel  Johnston,  Archibald  Maclaine,  and  Richard  .^.-^ 
Dobbs  Spaight.  ij^s^s- 

The  other  side  was  led  by  Willie  Jones,  of  Hali-  23- 
fax,  noted  for  wealth  and  aristocratic  habits  and  1. " 
tastes,  yet  by  nature  a  steadfast  supporter  of  the 
principles  of  democracy.*  He  was  sustained  by  Sam- 
uel Spencer,  of  Anson,  a  man  of  candor  and  modera- 
tion, and  as  a  debater  far  superior  to  his  associates ; 
by  David  Caldwell,  from  Guilford,  a  Presbyterian 
di\ane,  fertile  in  theories  and  tenacious  of  them ;  and 
by  Timothy  Bloodworth,  a  former  member  of  con- 
gress ;  who  as  a  preacher  abounded  in  offices  of  char- 
ity ;  as  a  politician  dreaded  the  subjection  of  southern 
to  northern  interests. 

The  friends  of  the  constitution  had  the  advantage 
of  spreading  their  arguments  before  the  people ;  on 
the  other  side  Willie  Jones,  who  held  in  his  hand  the 
majority  of  the  convention,  citing  the  wish  of  Jeffer- 
son that  nine  states  might  ratify  the  constitution,  and  July 
the  rest  hold  aloof  for  amendments,  answered  in  this 
wise :  "  We  do  not  determine  on  the  constitution ;  we 
neither  reject  nor  adopt  it ;  we  leave  ourselves  at  lib- 
erty ;  there  is  no  doubt  we  shall  obtain  our  amend- 
ments and  come  into  the  union." 

At  his  word  the  convention  deferred  the  ratifica-  ^ys 
tion  of  the  constitution,  and  proposed  amendments 
by  one  hundred  and  eighty-four  votes  against  eighty- 
four.  But  harmony  between  the  state  and  the  new 
federal  government  was  pre-established  l)y  a  rule  that 
any  impost  which  congress  might  ordain  for  the  union 
»  McRee's  Iredell,  ii.  232;  Moore's  N.  C,  i.  384. 


1. 


350  THE  FEDERAL  GOYEEIN-MENT. 

CHAP,  slioiild  be  collected  in  North  Carolina  by  tlie  state 

.^,1^  "  for  tlie  use  of  cono-ress." 

1 7  s  8.  The  scales  were  ready  to  drop  from  the  eyes  of 
Rhode  Island.  That  state,  although  it  had  taken  no 
part  in  the  federal  convention  and  for  a  year  and 
more  had  neglected  to  attend  in  congress,  watched 
without  disapprobation  the  great  revolution  that  was 
taking  place.  Neither  of  the  two  states  which  lin- 
gered behind  remonstrated  against  the  establishment 
of  a  new  government  before  their  consent ;  nor  did 
they  ask  the  United  States  to  wait  for  them.  The 
worst  that  can  be  said  of  them  is,  that  they  were 
late  in  arriving;. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  FEDERAL  GOVERMEENT   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

It  was  time  for  America  to  be  known  abroad  as  a  ciiap. 
nation.      The  statesmen   of   France  reproaclied  lier  s-,-,-^ 
unsparingly  for  failing  in  lier  pecuniary  engagements.  1 7  s  9. 
Boatmen  wlio  bore  the  flao;  of  the  United  States  on 
the  father  of  rivers  were  fearlessly  arrested  by  Sj^ain, 
while  Don  Gardoqui,  its  agent,  in  private  conversa- 
tion tempted  the  men  of  Kentucky  "  to  declare  them- 
selves independent "  by  the  assurance  that  he  was 
authorized  to  treat  with  them  as  a  separate  power  re- 
specting commerce  and  the  navigation  of  the  Missis- 
sippi.' 

The  colonists  in  Nova  Scotia  were  already  absorb- 
ing a  part .  of  south-eastern  Maine ;  and  inventing 
false  excuses  for  doins:  so.  Great  Britain  declined  to 
meet  her  own  oblio^ations  with  res:ard  to  the  slaves 
whom  she  had  carried  away,  and  who  finally  formed 
the  seed  of  a  British  colony  at  Sierra  Leone.  She 
did  not  give  up  her  negotiations  with  the  men  of 
Vermont.  She  withheld  the  interior  posts,  belong- 
ing to  the  United  States ;  in  the  commission  for  the 

^  Letters  to  Washinsrton,  iv.  248. 


352  THE  FEDEEAL  GOVERNMENT. 

CHAP,  government  of  Upper  Canada  slie  kept  out  of  siglit 

V ^  tlie  line  of  boundary,  in  order  that  tlie  commanding 

17  8  9.  officer  might  not  scruple  to  crowd  the  Americans 
away  from  access  to  theii'  inland  w^ater  line,  and  thus 
debar  them  from  their  rightful  share  in  the  fur- 
trade.  She  was  all  the  while  encourasrinoj  the  In- 
dian  tribes  within  the  bounds  of  New  York  and  to 
the  south  of  the  western  lakes  to  assert  their  indepen- 
dence. Hearino;  of  the  discontent  of  the  Kentuck- 
ians  and  the  men  of  west  North  Carolina,  she  sought 
to  foment  the  passions  which  might  hurry  them  out 
of  the  union,  as  far  as  it  could  be  done  ^^ithout  prom- 
ising them  protection. 
178  6.  In  England  John  Adams  had  vainly  explained  the 
expectation  of  congress  that  a  British  plenipotentiary 
minister  should  be  sent  to  the  United  States.'  The 
bills  reo-ulatins:  Newfoundland  and  intercourse  with 
America  were  under  the  leadership  of  the  same  Jen- 
kinson  who  had  prepared  the  stamp  act ;  and,  with 
the  acquiescence  of  Pitt,  the  men  and  the  principles 
which  had  governed  British  policy  toward  America 
for  most  of  the  last  twenty  years  still  prevailed."  In 
^1^.^-  1788  the  son  of  George  Grenville,  speaking  for  the 
11.  ministry  in  the  house  of  commons,  said :  "  Great  Brit- 
ain, ever  since  the  peace,  has  condescended  to  favor 
the  United  States." '  Moreover,  the  British  govern- 
ment would  take  no  notice  of  American  remon- 
strances against  the  violations  of  the  treaty  of  peace. 
Self-respect  and  patriotic  pride  forbade  John  Adams 
to  remain. 

*  Adams  to  Carmarthen,  G  Feb.,         '  Speech  of  Grenville,  11  Feb., 
1780.  1788.   Almon's  Parliamentarj' Reg- 

'  Adams  to  Jay,  27  Feb.,  1780.       istcr,  33,  p.  179. 


FEDERAL    GOVERI^MENT   OF   THE   UNITED    STATES.      353 

Adams  and  Jefferson  liad  exchanged  with,  each  chap. 
other  their  portraits,  as  lasting  memorials  of  friend-  ^^^^^ 
ship ;  and  Adams,  on  leaving  Europe,  had  but  two  i  '^  ^  8. 
regrets :  one,  the  opportunity  of  research  in  books ; 
the  other,  that  immediate  correspondence  with 
Jefferson  which  he  cherished  as  one  of  the  most 
agreeable  events  in  his  life.  "  A  seven  months'  inti- 
macy with  him  here  and  as  many  weeks  in  London 
have  given  me  opportunities  of  studying  him  close- 
ly," wrote  Jefferson  to  Madison.  "  He  is  vain,  irrita- 
ble, and  a  bad  calculator  of  the  force  and  probable 
effect  of  the  motives  which  govern  men.  This  is  all 
the  ill  which  can  possibly  be  said  of  him.  He  is  dis- 
interested ;  profound  in  his  views ;  and  accurate  in 
his  judgment,  except  where  knowledge  of  the  world 
is  necessary  to  form  a  judgment.  He  is  so  amiable, 
that  you  will  love  him,  if  ever  you  become  acquainted 
with  him."  * 

In  America  the  new  constitution  was  rapidly  con- 
cDiating  the  affections  of  the  people.  Union  had 
been  held  dear  ever  since  it  was  formed ;  and  now 
that  the  constitution  was  its  surest  guarantee,  no  party 
could  succeed  which  did  not  inscribe  union,  and  with 
union  the  constitution,  on  its  banner.  In  September,  Sept. 
1788,  the  dissidents  of  Pennsylvania  held  a  conference 
at  Harrisburg.  With  the  delegates  from  beyond  the 
mountains  came  Albert  Gallatin,  a  native  of  Geneva, 
and  educated  there  in  a  republic  of  a  purely  fede- 
ral form.  Their  proceedings  bear  the  marks  of  his 
mind.  They  resolved  for  themselves  and  recom- 
mended to  all  others  to  acquiesce  in  the  organization 

*  Jefferson,  ii.  107. 
VOL.  n.  23 


354  THE   FEDEKAL    GOVERISTMENT. 

CHAP,  of  the  2:overnment  under  "the  federal  constitution, 
III  .  .        .  . 

of  which  the  ratification  had  formed  a  new  era  in  the 

American  world ; "  they  asked,  however,  for  its  speedy- 
revision  by  a  general  convention.  All  their  actions 
were  kept  mthin  the  bounds  of  legality.* 

In  Virginia  there  had  been  a  great  vibration  of 

opinion.     Its  assembly,  which  met  on  the  twentieth 

Oct.     of  October,  1T88,  was  the  first  to  take  into  consider- 

20.  . 

ation  the  proposal  for  another  federal  convention. 
The  enemies  to  the  government  formed  a  decided 
majority  of  the  legislature.''  No  one  of  its  members 
was  able  to  encounter  Patrick  Henry  in  debate,  and 
his  edicts  were  registered  without  opposition."  He 
had  only  to  say,  "Let  this  be  law,"  and  it  became 
law.  Taking  care  to  set  forth  that  so  far  as  it  de- 
pended on  Virginia  the  new  plan  of  government 
would  be  carried  into  immediate  operation,  the  as- 

30.  sembly  proposed  a  second  federal  convention,  and  in- 
vited the  concurrence  of  every  other  state.*  Madison 
was  the  fittest  man  in  the  union  to  be  of  the  senate 
of  the  United  States :    Henry,  after  pouring  forth  a 

^^"^-  declamation  against  his  federal  principles,"  nominated 
Richard  Henry  Lee  and  Grayson  for  the  two  sena- 
tors from  Virginia,  and  they  were  chosen  at  his  bid- 
ding. He  divided  the  state  into  districts,  cunningly 
restrictincc  each  of  them  to  its  own  inhabitants  in  the 
choice  of  its  representative,  and  taking  care  to  com- 
pose the  district  in  which  Madison  would  be  a  candi- 
date out  of  counties  which  were  thought  to  be  un- 

'  Life     of     Gallatin    by    Henry  Nov.,  1788.     MS.     Tobias  Loar  to 

Adams,  77;  Elliot,  ii.  544.  Laiif^^don,  31  Jan.,  1787.     MS. 

"  Madi.Hon,  i.  4:36,  4:57.  *  Hivcs's  Madison,  ii.  64G. 

»  Wasbinglon    to    Madison,    17  *  Madison,  i.  443,  444. 


FEDERAL    GOVERNMENT    OF   THE   UNITED    STATES.      355 

friendly  to  federalism.     Assured  by  these  iniquitous  chap. 
preparations,  Monroe,  without  scruple,  took  the  field 
against  Madison. 

In  Connecticut  the  circular  letter  of  New  York  had 
a  reading  among  other  public  communications,  but 
"  no  anti-federalist  had  hardiness  enough  to  call  it  up 
for  consideration  or  to  speak  one  word  of  its  sub- 
ject."' 

The  legislature  of  Massachusetts  concurred  with  i  v  8  9. 
Hancock,  the  governor,  that  an  immediate  second  e. 
federal  convention  might  endanger  the  union."  The 
legislature  of  Pennsylvania  put  the  question  at  rest 
by  saying :  "  The  house  do  not  perceive  this  constitu- 
tion wanting  in  any  of  those  fundamental  principles 
which  are  calculated  to  ensure  the  liberties  of  their 
country.  The  happiness  of  America  and  the  har- 
mony of  the  union  depend  upon  suffering  it  to  pro- 
ceed undisturbed  in  its  operation  by  premature 
amendments.  The  house  cannot,  consistently  with 
their  duty  to  the  good  people  of  this  state  or  with 
their  affection  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  at 
large,  concur  with  Virginia  in  their  application  to 
congress  for  a  convention  of  the  states."  This  vote, 
MifBin,  the  governor,  early  in  March,  1789,  communi- 
cated to  the  governor  of  Virginia,"  and  the  subject 
was  heard  of  no  more. 

Congress  as  early  as  the  second  of  July,  1788,  was  ivsa 
notified  that  the  constitution  had  received  the  ap-     "^* 
proval  of  nine  states ;  but  they  wasted  two  months 

*  Trumbull  to  Washington,  Oct.,         "^  New  York  Daily  Gazette  of  17 
1788.     Letters  to  Washington,  iv.     Feb.,  1789. 

238.  ^  Pennsylvania  Archives,  xi,  557, 

558. 


356  THE  FEDEEAL  GOVEENMENT. 

CHAP,  in  wi'angling  about  tlie  permanent  seat  of  the  federal 
government,  and  at  last  could  agree  only  on  New 
York  as  its  resting  place.  Not  till  tlie  thii-teentli  of 
September  was  the  first  Wednesday  of  tlie  following 
January  appointed  for  tlie  choice  of  electors  of  presi- 
dent in  the  several  states ;  and  tlie  first  Wednesday 
in  March,  which  in  that  year  was  the  fourth,  for 
commencing  proceedings  under  the  constitution.  The 
states,  each  for  itself,  appointed  the  times  and  places 
for  electing  senators  and  representatives. 

The  interest  of  the  elections  centred  in  New  York, 
Yii'ginia,  and  South  Carolina.  In  four  districts  out 
of  the  six  into  which  New  York  was  divided  the  fed- 
eralists elected  theii'  candidates.  Having  in  the  state 
legislature  but  a  bare  majority  in  the  senate,  while 
their  opponents  outnumbered  them  in  the  house,  each 
branch  made  a  nomination  of  senators ;  but  the  senate 
refused  to  go  into  a  joint  ballot.  For  this  there  was 
the  excuse  that  the  time  for  a  new  election  was  close 
at  hand.  But  the  senate  further  refused  to  meet  the 
house  for  the  choice  of  electors  of  president,  and  this 
was  an  act  of  faction. 

The  star  of  Hamilton  was  then  in  the  ascendant, 
and  he  controlled  the  federalists ;  but  only  to  make 
his  singular  incapacity  to  conduct  a  j^arty  as  apparent 
as  his  swiftness  and  j^ower  of  thought.  Instead  of 
orecanizins:  tlie  sure  friends  of  the  constitution  as  a 
compact  and  permanent  party,  he  planned  only  to 
defeat  Clinton's  re-election,  and  for  that  end  led  them 
to  join  with  Aaron  liurr  in  selecting  for  their  can- 
didate ll(-)bert  Yates,  who  had  deserted  his  post 
in  the  federal  convention,  but  had  since  avowed  the 


FEDEEAL    GOVEENMENT    OF   THE    UinTED    STATES.       357 

opinion  wliicli  was  held  by  every  one  in  the  state  that  chap. 

the  new  constitution  should  be  supported.    New  York  ^-w. 

at  the  moment  was  thoroughly  federal,  yet  Clinton  ^ '  ^  ^• 
escaped  defeat  through  the  fidelity  of  his  own  county  i3." 
of  Ulster  and  the  insignificance  of  his  opponent,  while 
the  federalists  were  left  without  any  state  organiza- 
tion. In  the  new  legislatm^e  both  branches  were 
federal,  and  Schuyler  was  readily  chosen  one  of  the 
two  United  States  senators.  After  vain  attempts  to 
choose  his  colleague,  Ruf us  King,  who  but  a  few  months 
before  had  removed  to  New  York,  was  elected  by  a  ma- 
jority in  one  house,  by  a  unanimous  vote  in  the  other.* 

Ill  Virginia,  Madison  went  into  the  counties  that 
were  relied  on  to  defeat  him,  reasoned  with  the  vot- 
ers face  to  face,  and  easily  won  the  day.  Of  the  ten 
delegates  from  the  state,  seven  were  federalists,  of 
whom  one  was  from  Kentucky.  South  Carolina 
elected  avowed  anti-federalists,  except  Butler,  of  the 
senate,  who  had  conceded  many  points  to  bring 
about  the  union  and  yet  very  soon  took  the  alarm 
that  "  the  southern  interest  was  imperilled." '' 

Under  the  constitution  the  house  of  representatives  i  t  8  9. 
formed  a  quorum  on  the  first  of  April.     The  senate      i]^ 
on  the  sixth  chose  John  Langdon,  of  New  Hampshire,      6. 
its  president.     The  house  of  representatives  was  im- 
mediately summoned,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  two 
branches  he  opened  and  counted  the  votes.     Every 
one  of  the  sixty-nine,  cast  by  the  ten  states  which 

*  The  result  of  the  whole  was  ant  elements  in  Xevr  York  support 

disastrous  for  Hamilton.     Schuyler  enou<;h    to    supersede    Schuyler, 

having  drawn  the  short  term,  in  Hamilton's    father-in-law,    in   the 

less  than  two   years   Aaron   Burr  senate  of  the  United  States. 

knew    how  to  conciliate   Clinton  ^  Pierce  Butler  to  Iredell,  in  Life 

and  to  collect  out  of  the  discord-  of  Iredell,  ii.  264,  265. 


358  THE  FEDEEAL  GOVERNMENT. 

CHAP,  took  part  in  the  election,  was  for  Washington.    John 

V ,-w.  Adams  had  thirty-four  votes ;  and  as  no  other  ob- 

^!j^.?'  tained  more  than  nine,  he  was  declared  to  be  the 

April         ^  ^  ' 

6.  vice-president.  The  house  devolved  upon  the  senate 
the  office  of  communicatins:  the  result  to  those  who 
had  been  chosen ;  and  proceeded  to  business. 

March  "  I  foresee  contentions,"  wrote  Madison,  "  first  be- 
tween federal  and  anti-federal  parties,  and  then  be- 
tween northern  and  southern  parties,  which  give 
additional  disagreeableness  to  the  prospect."*  The 
events  of  the  next  seventy  years  cast  their  shadows 

April  before.  Madison  revived  the  bill  which  he  had  pre- 
sented to  congress  on  the  eighteenth  of  March,  1783, 
for  duties  on  imports,  adding  to  it  a  discriminating 
duty  on  tonnage.  For  an  immediate  public  rev- 
enue, Lawrence,  of  New  York,  proposed  a  general 
duty  ad  valorem.  England  herself,  by  restraining 
and  even  prohibiting  the  domestic  industry  of  the 
Americans  so  long  as  they  remained  in  the  condi- 
tion of  colonial  dependence,  had  trained  them  to  con- 
sider the  establishment  of  home  manufactures  as  an 
9.  act  of  patriotic  resistance  to  tyranny.  Fitzsimons, 
of  Pennsylvania,  disapproved  of  a  uniform  ad  valo- 
rem duty  on  all  imports.  lie  said  :  "  I  have  in  con- 
templation to  encourage  domestic  manufactures  by 
protecting  duties."  Tucker,  of  South  Carolina,  en- 
forced the  necessity  of  great  deliberation  by  calling 
attention  to  the  antagonistic  interests  of  the  eastern, 
middle,  and  southern  states  in  the  article  of  tonnage. 
Boudinot,  of  New  Jersey,  wished  glass  to  be  taxed, 
for  there  were  already  several  manufactures  of  it  in 

*  Madison,  i.  450,  451. 


FEDERAL    GOVEE]S'MENT    OF   THE   mOTED    STATES.      359 

tlie  country.  "  AVe  are  able,"  said  Hartley,  of  Pennsyl-  chap. 
vania,  "  to  f umisli  some  domestic  manufactures  in  suf- 
ficient quantity  to  answer  the  consumption  of  tlie  wliole 
union,  and  to  work  up  our  stock  of  materials  even  for 
exportation.  In  tliese  cases  I  take  it  to  be  tlie  policy 
of  fi^ee,  enliglitened  nations  to  give  tlieir  manufactures 
tliat  encouragement  necessary  to  perfect  tliem  with- 
out oppressing  the  other  parts  of  the  community." 

"We  must  consider  the  general  interests  of  the 
union,"  said  Madison,  "  as  much  as  the  local  or  state 
interest.  My  general  principle  is  that  commerce 
ought  to  be  free,  and  labor  and  industry  left  at  large  to 
find  their  proper  object."  But  he  admitted  that  "  the 
interests  of  the  states  which  are  ripe  for  manufactures 
ought  to  have  attention,  as  the  power  of  protecting 
and  cherishing  them  has  by  the  present  constitution 
been  taken  from  the  states  and  its  exercise  thrown 
into  other  hands.  Regulations  in  some  of  the  states 
have  produced  establishments  which  ought  not  to  be 
allowed  to  perish  from  the  alteration  which  has  taken 
place,  while  some  manufactures  being  once  formed 
can  advance  toward  perfection  without  any  adventi- 
tious aid.  Some  of  the  propositions  may  be  pro- 
ductive of  revenue  and  some  may  protect  our  domes- 
tic manufactures,  though  the  latter  subject  ought  not 
to  be  too  confusedly  blended  with  the  former."  "  I,"  May 
said  Tucker,  "am  opposed  to  high  duties  because 
they  will  introduce  and  establish  a  system  of  smug- 
gling, and  because  they  tend  to  the  oppression  of 
citizens  and  states  to  promote  the  benefit  of  other 
states  and  other  classes  of  citizens."  * 

*  Annals  of  Congress,  i.  291. 


360  THE  FEDERAL  GOVERNMENT. 

Tlie  election  to  tlie  presidency  found  Wasliington 
prepared  with  a  federal  policy,  which  was  the  result 
of  long  meditation.  He  was  resolved  to  preserve 
freedom,  never  transcending  the  powers  delegated 
by  the  constitution ;  even  at  the  cost  of  life  to  uphold 
the  union,  a  sentiment  which  in  him  had  a  tinge  of 
anxiety  from  his  thorough  acquaintance  with  what 
Grayson  called  "the  southern  genius  of  America;" 
to  restore  the  public  finances ;  to  establish  in  the 
foreign  relations  of  the  country  a  thoroughly  Ameri- 
can system;  and  to  preserve  neutrality  in  the  im- 
pending conflicts  between  nations  in  Europe. 
April        On  the  fourteenth  of  April  he  received  the  official 

14.  . 

announcement  of  his  recall  to  the  public  service,  and 
16  was  at  ten  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  sixteenth  on 
his  way.  Though  reluctant  "  in  the  evening  of  life 
to  exchange  a  peaceful  abode  for  an  ocean  of  difficul- 
ties," he  bravely  said :  "  Be  the  voyage  long  or  short, 
although  I  may  be  deserted  by  all  men,  integrity  and 
firmness  shall  never  forsake  me." 

But  for  him  the  country  could  not  have  achieved 
its  independence ;  but  for  him  it  could  not  have 
formed  its  union  ;  and  now  but  for  him  it  could  not 
set  the  federal  government  in  successful  motion.  His 
journey  to  New  York  was  one  continued  march  of 
triumph.  All  the  way  he  was  met  with  addresses 
from  the  citizens  of  various  towns,  from  societies,  uni- 
versities, and  churches. 
16.  His  neighbors  of  Alexandria  crowded  round  him 
^vith  the  strongest  personal  affection,  saying  :  "  Fare- 
Avell,  and  make  a  grateful  people  happy ;  and  may 
the  Beincr  who  maketh  and  unmaketh  at  his  will,  re- 


FEDERAL    GOVERNMENT    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.      361 

store  to  us  aj^ain  tlie  best  of  men  and  the  most  beloved  chap. 

.  .                                                                               Ill 
fellow-citizen."  *  ^ ^ 

Across   the   Atlantic   Aliieri    cried   out   to   him :  i  *?  s  9. 
"  Happy  are  you,  who  have  for  the  sublime  and  per- 
manent basis  of  yom'  glory  the  love  of  country  de- 
monstrated by  deeds." 

To  the  citizens  of  Baltimore,  Washincfton  said  :  "  I    ^p"^ 
hold  it  of  little  moment  if  the  close  of  my  life  shall 
be  embittered,  provided  I   shall  have   been   instru- 
mental in  securing  the  liberties  and  promoting  the 
happiness  of  the  American  people." ' 

He  assured  the  society  for  promoting  domestic  man- 
ufactures in  Delaware  that  "  the  promotion  of  domes- 
tic manufactures  may  naturally  be  expected  to  flow 
from  an  energetic  government ; "  and  he  promised  to 
give  "  a  decided  preference  to  the  produce  and  fabrics 
of  America." ' 

At  Philadelphia,  "  almost  overwhelmed'  with  a  20. 
sense  of  the  divine  munificence,"  he  spoke  words  of 
hope :  "  The  most  gracious  Being,  who  has  hitherto 
watched  over  the  interests  and  averted  the  perils  of 
the  United  States,  will  never  suffer  so  fair  an  inherit- 
ance to  become  a  prey  to  anarchy  or  despotism."  * 

At  Trenton  he  was  met  by  a  party  of  matrons  and     21. 
their  daughters,  di'essed  in  white ;  singing  an  ode  of 
welcome   to  "the   mighty  chief"  who  had  rescued 
them  from  a  "mercenary  foe;"  and  strewing  flowers 
before  him. 

Embarkincr   at  Elizabeth  Point  in  a  new  bari^e,     23. 
manned  by  pilots  dressed  in  white,  he  cleaved  his 

^  Sparks,  xii.  139,  note.  ^  Sparks,  xii.  141. 

'  Sj/arks,  xii.  140,  141.  *  Sparks,  xii.  145. 


362  THE  FEDERAL  GOVERNMENT. 

CHAP,  course  swiftly  across  the  bay,  between  gayly  deco- 
rated boats,  filled  witli  gazers  who  cheered  him 
with  instrumental  music,  or  broke  out  in  songs. 
As  he  touched  the  soil  of  New  York  he  was  wel- 
comed by  the  two  houses  of  congress,  by  the  governor 
of  the  state,  by  the  magistrates  of  the  city,  by  its 
people ;  and  so  attended  he  proceeded  on  foot  to  the 
modest  mansion  lately  occupied  by  the  presiding  offi- 
cer of  the  confederate  congress.  On  that  day  he  dined 
with  Clinton  ;  in  the  evening  the  city  was  illuminat- 
ed. The  senate,  under  the  influence  of  John  Adams 
and  the  persistency  of  Richard  Henry  Lee,  would 
have  given  him  the  title  of  "  Highness ; "  but  the 
house,  supported  by.  the  true  republican  simplicity  of 
the  man  whom  they  both  washed  to  honor,  insisted 
on  the  simple  words  of  the  constitution,  and  pre- 
vailed. 
30.  On  the  thirtieth,  the  day  appointed  for  the  in- 
auguration, Washington,  being  fifty-seven  years,  two 
months,  and  eight  days  old,  was  ceremoniously  re- 
ceived by  the  two  houses  in  the  hall  of  the  senate. 
Stepping  out  to  the  middle  compartment  of  a  bal- 
cony, which  had  been  raised  in  front  of  it,  he  found 
before  him  a  dense  throns:  extendins;  to  Broad  street, 
and  filling  AVall  street  to  Broadway.  All  ^vere  hushed 
as  Livingston,  the  chancellor  of  the  state,  admmistered 
the  oath  of  office ;  but  when  he  cried :  "  Long  live 
George  Washington,  President  of  the  United  States  ! " 
the  air  was  rent  with  huzzas,  which  were  repeated  as 
Washinii'ton  bowed  to  the  multitude. 

Then  returninii:  to  the   senate  chamber,  ^vitli  an 
aspect  grave  almost  to  sadness  and  a  voice  deep  and 


FEDERAL    GOVEEIS^MENT    OF    THE   UNITED    STATES.      3G3 

tremulous,  lie  addressed  the  two  houses,  confessing:  chap. 

.  .     .  Ill 

his  distrust  of  his  own  endowments  and  his  inexpe-  ^^-^-^ 

rience  in  civil  administration.     The  ma2;nitude  and  ^J^.^- 

April 

difficulty  of  the  duties  to  which  his  country  had  so. 
called  him  weighed  upon  him  so  heavily  that  he 
shook  as  he  proceeded :  "  It  would  be  peculiarly 
improper  to  omit,  in  this  first  official  act,  my  fervent 
supplications  to  that  Almighty  Being  who  presides 
in  the  councils  of  nations,  that  his  benediction  may 
consecrate  to  the  liberties  and  happiness  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States  a  government  instituted  by 
themselves.  No  people  can  be  bound  to  acknowl- 
edge the  invisible  hand  which  conducts  the  aifairs 
of  men,  more  than  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
Every  step  by  which  they  have  advanced  to  the 
character  of  an  independent  nation,  seems  to  have 
been  distinguished  by  some  token  of  providential 
agency.  There  exists  in  the  economy  of  nature  an 
indissoluble  union  between  an  honest  and  masinani- 
mous  policy  and  public  prosperity.  Heaven  can 
never  smile  on  a  nation  that  disreo-ards  the  eternal 
rules  of  order  and  right.  The  preservation  of  lib- 
erty, and  the  destiny  of  the  republican  model  of  gov- 
ernment, are  justly  considered  as  deeply,  perhaps  as 
finally,  staked  on  the  experiment  intrusted  to  the 
American  people." 

At  the  close  of  the  ceremony  the  president  and 
both  branches  of  consress  were  escorted  to  the  church 

O 

of  St.  Paul,  where  the  chaplain  of  the  senate  read 
prayers  suited  to  the  occasion,  after  which  they  all 
attended  the  president  to  his  mansion. 

"  Every  one  without  exception,"   so   reports   the 


S64:  THE   FEDEKAL    GOVEENMENT. .. 

CHAP.  French  minister  to  liis  government/  "  appeared  pene- 
■ — ^  trated  with  veneration  for  the  illustrious  chief  of 
Vari?"  *^^  republic.  The  humblest  was  proud  of  the 
^0.  virtues  of  the  man  who  was  to  govern  him.  Tears 
of  joy  were  seen  to  flow  in  the  hall  of  the  senate,  at 
church,  and  even  in  the  streets,  and  no  sovereign  ever 
reigned  more  completely  in  the  hearts  of  his  sub- 
jects than  Washington  in  the  hearts  of  his  fellow- 
citizens.  Nature,  which  had  given  him  the  talent  to 
govern,  distinguished  him  from  all  others  by  his  ap- 
pearance. He  had  at  once  the  soul,  the  look,  and 
the  figure  of  a  hero.  Tie  never  appeared  embarrassed 
at  homao;e  rendered  him,  and  in  his  manners  he  had 
the  advantage  of  joining  dignity  to  great  simplicity." 
To  the  president's  inaugural  speech,  one  branch  of 
the  legislature  thus  responded :  "  The  senate  will  at 
all  times  cheerfully  co-operate  in  every  measure  which 
may  strengthen  the  union,  and  perpetuate  the  liberties 
of  this  great  confederated  republic." 
May  The  representatives  of  the  American  people  like- 
wise addressed  him :  "  With  you  Ave  adore  the  invisi- 
ble hand  which  has  led  the  American  people  through 
so  many  difficulties ;  and  we  cherish  a  conscious 
responsibility  for  the  destiny  of  republican  liberty. 
We  join  in  your  fervent  supplication  for  our  coun- 
try ;  and  we  add  our  OT\m  for  the  choicest  blessings 
of  heaven  on  the  most  beloved  of  her  citizens." 

In  the  same  moments  of  the  fifth  day  of  May,  1789, 
wlien  these  woi-ds  were  reported,  the  ground  was 
trembling  l)encath  the  arbitrary  governments  of  Eu- 

*  Mousticr's   r('|Kirt    on    llic    in-     United    States;     nearly     literally 
auguration  of  tlic  ])ifsi(lLiit  of  the     trauslated. 


FEDERAL    GOVERlSrMENT    OF   TILE   UNITED    STATES.      365 

rope,  as  Louis  XVI.  proceeded  to  open  tLe  states  chap. 
general  of  France.  The  day  of  wrath,  against  which  .— v— 
Leibnitz  had  warned  the  monarchs  of  Europe,  was  ^J^^^' 
beginning  to  break,  and  its  judgments  were  to  be  the  5. 
more  terrible  for  the  long  delay  of  its  coming.  The 
great  Frederick,  who  alone  of  them  all  had  lived  and 
toiled  for  the  good  of  his  land,  desciibed  the  degen- 
eracy and  insignificance  of  his  fellow-rulers  mth  c}ti- 
ical  scorn.  Not  one  of  them  had  a  surmise  that  the 
only  sufficient  reason  for  the  existence  of  a  king  lies 
in  his  usefulness  to  the  people.  Nor  did  they  spare 
one  another.  The  law  of  morality  was  never  suf- 
fered to  restrain  the  passion  for  conquest.  Austria 
preyed  upon  Italy  until  Aliieri  could  only  say,  in  his 
despair,  that  despotic  power  had  left  him  no  country 
to  serve ;  nor  did  the  invader  permit  the  thought  that 
an  Italian  could  have  a  right  to  a  country.  The  heir 
in  the  only  line  of  protestant  kings  on  the  continent 
of  Europe,  too  blind  to  see  that  he  would  one  day 
be  stripped  of  the  chief  part  of  his  own  share  in  the 
spoils,  joined  with  two  other  robbers  to  divide  the 
country  of  Kosciuszko.  In  Holland  dynastic  inter- 
ests were  betraying  the  welfare  of  the  republic.  All 
faith  was  dying  out ;  and  self,  in  its  eagerness  for 
pleasure  or  advantage,  stifled  the  voice  of  justice. 
The  atheism  of  the  great,  who  lived  without  God  in 
the  world,  concealed  itself  under  superstitious  observ- 
ances which  were  enforced  by  an  inquisition  that 
sought  to  rend  beliefs  from  the  soul  and  to  suppress 
inquiiy  by  torments  which  surpassed  the  worst 
cruelties  that  savas-es  could  invent.  Even  in  Great 
Britain  all  the  branches  of  government  were  con- 


366  THE  FEDERAL  G0YEKX3IEXT. 

CHAP,  trolled  by  the  aristocracy,  of  wliicli  the  more  liberal 
party  could  in  tliat  generation  have  no  hope  of  being 
summoned  by  the  king  to  frame  a  cabinet.  The  land, 
of  which  every  member  of  a  clan  had  had  some  share 
of  ownership,  had  been  for  the  most  part  usurped  by 
the  nobility;  and  the  people  were  starving  in  the 
midst  of  the  liberality  which  their  own  hands  had 
extorted  from  nature.  The  monarchs,  whose  imbe- 
cility or  excesses  had  brought  the  doom  of  death  on 
arbitrary  power,  were  not  only  unfit  to  rule,  but, 
while  their  own  unlimited  sovereignty  was  stricken 
with  death,  they  knew  not  how  to  raise  up  states- 
men to  take  their  places,  and  they  awakened  in  skep- 
ticism the  fearful  passion  to  destroy.  Even  the  wise 
and  prudent  were  incensed  at  the  unjust  institutions 
which  bore  them  down  ;  while  the  lowly  classes,  cloud- 
ed by  despair,  were  driven  sometimes  to  admit  the 
terrible  thought  that  religion,  which  is  the  poor 
man's  consolation  and  defence,  might  after  all  be  but 
an  instrument  of  government  in  the  hands  of  their 
oppressors.  There  was  no  relief  for  the  nations  but 
through  revolution,  and  their  masters  had  poisoned 
the  weapons  which  revolution  must  use. 

In  America  a  new  people  had  risen  up  without  king, 
or  princes,  or  nobles,  knowing  nothing  of  tithes  and 
little  of  landlords,  the  plough  being  for  the  most  part 
in  the  hands  of  free  holders  of  the  soil.  They  were 
more  sincerely  religious,  better  educated,  of  serener 
minds,  and  of  purer  morals  than  the  men  of  any 
former  repul)lic.  By  calm  meditation  and  friendly 
councils  they  had  prepared  a  constitution  which,  in 
tlie  union   of  freedom  with  strength  and  order,  ex- 


FEDERAL    GOVEKNMENT    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES.      367 

celled  every  one  known  before  :  and  wliich  secured  chap. 

.  .  .   .  Ill 

itself  against  violence  and  revolution  by  providing  a  — ^ 

peaceful  method  for  every  needed  reform.  In  tlie  I'^^o. 
liappy  morning  of  tlieir  existence  as  one  of  tlie  pow- 
ers of  tlie  world,  tliey  had  chosen  justice  for  their 
guide  ;  and  while  they  proceeded  on  their  way  with 
a  well-founded  confidence  and  joy,  all  the  friends  of 
mankind  invoked  success  on  their  unexampled  en- 
deavor to  govern  states  and  territories  of  imperial 
extent  as  one  federal  republic. 


LETTEES  A:^D   PAPEES 

ILLUSTRATKG  THE  FORMATION  OF  THE  FEDERAL 
CONSTITUTION. 


TOL.  n. 


24 


APPENDIX. 


Temple  to  JOord  Carmarthen,  Keio  Yorh,  7  July,  1786.  Ex. 
It  is  with  pleasure  that  I  can  inform  your  lordship  what  silver  and 
gold  is  to  be  had  in  this  country  goes  in  his  Majesty's  packet  boats  to 
England.  The  last  packet,  the  Tankerville,  carried  upward  of  three 
hundred  thousand  Spanish  milled  dollars,  and  the  Carteret  packet,  to 
sail  to-morrow,  will,  I  believe,  carry  home  near  as  much  more.  The 
French  packets  carry  none. 

Monroe  to  Jefferson,  New  YorJc,  16  July,  1786. 
Dear  Sir  :  I  have  not  heard  from  you  for  several  months  past,  the 
last  being  dated  some  time  previous  to  your  removal  to  London.  Not 
knowing  you  would  have  stayed  so  long,  I  have  wrote  you  by  every 
packet  to  France.  We  have  now  present  twelve  states,  and  hope  this 
will  be  the  case  for  some  time.  Soon  after  my  arrival  here  in  the 
winter  I  suggested  to  you  my  apprehensions  that  the  condition  of  the 
act  of  cession  from  Virginia,  which  respected  the  extent  of  the  states 
to  be  erected  over  the  ceded  territory,  was  an  unpolitic  one,  and  that 
it  might  be  proper  to  recommend  it  to  the  state  to  alter  it.  A  prop- 
osition to  this  effect  was  submitted  to  congress,  which  ultimately 
passed,  advising  that  it  be  vested  in  congress  to  divide  the  said  terri- 
tory into  not  less  than  three  nor  more  than  five  states  ;  but  the  investi- 
gation of  the  subject  has  opened  the  eyes  of  a  part  of  the  union,  so 
as  to  enable  them  to  vicAV  the  subject  in  a  different  light  from  what 
they  have  heretofore  done.     They  have,  therefore,  manifested  a  desire 


372  APPENDIX 

* 
to  rescind  everything  they  have  heretofore  done  in  it,  particularly  to 
increase  the  number  of  inhabitants  which  should  entitle  such  states  to 
admission  into  the  confederacy,  and  to  make  it  depend  on  their  haying 
one  thirteenth  part  of  the  free  inhabitants  of  the  United  States. 

This,  with  some  other  restrictions  they  wish  to  impose  on  them, 
evinces  plainly  the  policy  of  these  men  to  be  to  keep  them  out  of  the 
confederacy  altogether. 

I  considered  this  as  a  dangerous  and  very  mischievous  kind  of  pol- 
icy, and  calculated  to  throw  them  into  the  waters  of  Britain.  I  know 
not  with  certainty  whether  they  will  be  able  to  carry  this  point,  but 
if  it  is  pressed,  and  a  probability  of  being  carried,  we  shall  object  to 
the  power  of  the  United  States  to  determine  the  numbers  without  the 
consent  of  the  state  ;  it  having  been  left  oj^en  in  the  act  does  by  no 
means  put  it  in  the  power  of  the  United  States  to  make  such  restric- 
tions on  this  head  as  to  defeat  the  condition  altogether.  If  they  do 
not,  therefore,  agree  with  the  delegation  to  have  it  upon  the  ground 
of  23  April,  1784,  we  shall  propose  a  subsequent  convention  between 
the  parties  as  to  that  point,  and  deny  the  right  of  the  United  States 
to  act  otherwise  in  it. 

In  my  last  I  advised  you  of  an  intrigue  on  foot  under  the  manage- 
ment of  Jay  to  occlude  the  Mississippi,  supported  by  the  delegation 
of  3Iassachusetts.  Since  my  last  no  further  measures  have  been  openly 
taken  in  the  business,  yet  it  is  not  relinquished.  As  yet  there  hath 
not  been  a  fair  trial  of  the  sense  of  congress  on  the  subject.  I  have  a 
conviction  in  my  own  mind  that  Jay  has  managed  this  negotiation 
dishonestly  ;  on  the  other  hand,  I  am  persuaded  that  the  minister  here 
has  no  power  on  the  subject,  yet  I  am  firmly  persuaded  that  he  has 
conducted  himself  in  such  a  manner  in  this  business  as  to  give  him 
and  his  court  hopes  which  neither  the  sense  of  congress  nor  liis  instruc- 
tions authorize. 

Having  been  on  all  the  foreign  committees  latterly,  indeed  since  you 
left  us,  I  have  had  an  opportunity  of  knowing  him  well,  and  this  com- 
munication is  founded  in  circumstances  this  opportunity  hath  given 
me.  The  Massachusetts  delegates,  except  the  president,  whose  talents 
and  merits  have  been  greatly  overrated  (though  preferable  greatly  in 
the  latter  instance  to  his  brethren),  are  without  exception  the  most 
illiberal  I  have  ever  srcn  from  that  state.  Two  of  these  men,  Avhose 
names  arc  Dana  and  King,  are  eU'cted  for  the  next  year,  which  is  my 
motive  for  making  known  to  you  this  circumstance.     It  may  possibly 


LETTERS    AND    PAPERS.  373 

be  of  some  service  to  you,  <as  I  shall  leave  congress,  to  possess  infor- 
mation of  this  kind.  The  former  is,  I  believe,  honest,  but  the  princi- 
ples of  the  latter  I  doubt.  It  has  been  proposed  and  supported  by  our 
state  to  have  a  colonial  government  established  over  the  western  dis- 
tricts, to  cease  at  the  time  they  shall  be  admitted  into  the  confeder- 
acy. We  are  fully  persuaded  it  will  be  beneficial  to  the  settlers  and 
to  the  United  States,  and  especially  those  to  whose  frontiers  such 
establishment  formed  an  immediate  barrier.  This  hath  not  been  de- 
cided on,  and  hath  only  been  postponed  in  consequence  of  the  inordi- 
nate schemes  of  some  men  above  alluded  to,  as  to  the  whole  policy  of 
the  affairs  of  that  country.  I  am  not  aware  of  anything  else  that  I 
can  give  you  new.  In  October  I  shall  leave  this  for  Virginia,  and 
shall  settle  in  Fredericksburg  for  the  purpose  of  commencing  the  prac- 
tice of  the  law. 

I  hope  by  this  jon  have  reached  Paris  again,  and  at  home  ;  that  you 
have  been  well  pleased  with  your  trip. 

Mr.  Madison  writes  me  to-day  he  is  at  Philadelphia,  and  intends  in 
a  few  days  a  visit  here.  I  am,  dear  sir,  your  affectionate  friend  and 
servant. 

H  Iff  us  ICinff  to  James  Monroe,  Tuesday,  30  July,  1786. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  called  at  your  house  last  evening  to  mention  that  in 
a  conversation  with  Mr.  Pettit  on  the  subject  on  which  we  met  Mr. 
Jay  some  weeks  since  at  Mr.  Alsop's,  we  coincided  in  opinion  that  the 
committee  could  do  nothing  preferable  to  reporting  that  they  be  dis- 
charged, the  business  I'eferred  to  a  committee  of  the  whole  house,  and 
that  Mr.  Jay  be  directed  to  attend. 

I  wish  your  opinion  of  the  propriety  of  such  a  report,  and  am  affec- 
tionately your  friend,  R.  King. 

Report  of  a  Grand  Committee  on  Federal  Poicers. 

[The  first  endorsement  on  the  back  of  the  report  is  as  follows  : 

"  No.  18.  Report  of  a  sub-committee  to  the  grand  committee  on. 
federal  powers,  viz.,  Mr.  Pinckney,  Mr.  Dane,  Mi*.  Johnson.  Entered. 
Read  7  Aug.,  1786.     Order  for  Monday,  14." 

The  words  of  the  endorsement  "a  sub-committee  to  the"  are  struck 
out,  and  the  report  to  congress  was  made  by  the  grand  committee  with 
the  new  endorsement  as  above.] 

The  grand  committee,  consisting  of  Mr.  Livermore,  Mr.  Dane,  IVIr. 


374  APPENDIX. 

JSranning,  Mr.  Johnson,  Mr.  Smith,  Mr.  Symmes,  Mr.  Pettit,  Mr. 
Henry,  Mr.  Lee,  Mr.  Blood  worth,  Mr.  Pinckney,  and  Mr.  Iloustoun, 
appointed  to  report  such  amendments  to  the  confederation  and  such 
resolutions  as  it  may  be  necessary  to  recommend  to  the  several  states 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  from  them  such  powers  as  will  render  the 
federal  government  adequate  to  the  ends  for  which  it  was  instituted, 
beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  report  to  the  consideration  of  con- 
gress : 

liesolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  legislatures  of  the  several 
states  to  adopt  the  following  articles  as  articles  of  the  confederation, 
and  to  authorize  their  delegates  in  congress  to  sign  and  ratify  the 
same  severally  as  they  shall  be  adopted,  to  wit : 

Aet.  14.  The  United  States  in  congress  assembled  shall  have  the 
sole  and  exclusive  power  of  regulating  the  trade  of  the  states  as  well 
with  foreign  nations  as  with  each  other,  and  of  laying  such  prohibi- 
tions, and  such  imposts  and  duties  upon  imports  and  exports,  as  may  be 
necessary  for  the  purpose  ;  provided  the  citizens  of  the  states  shall  in 
no  instance  be  subjected  to  pay  higher  duties  and  imposts  than  those 
imposed  on  the  subjects  of  foreign  powers;  provided,  also,  that  all  such 
duties  as  may  be  imposed  shall  be  collected  under  such  regulations  as 
the  United  States  in  congress  assembled  shall  establish  consistent  with 
the  constitutions  of  the  states  respectively,  and  to  accrue  to  the  use  of 
the  state  in  which  the  same  shall  be  payable  ;  provided,  also,  that  the 
legislative  power  of  the  several  states  shall  not  be  restrained  from  lay- 
ing embargoes  in  times  of  scarcity;  and  provided,  lastly,  that  every  act 
of  congress  for  the  above  purpose  shall  have  the  assent  of  nine  states 
in  congress  assembled,  and  in  that  proportion  when  there  shall  be 
more  than  thirteen  in  the  union. 

Art.  1.5.  That  the  respective  states  may  be  induced  to  perform  the 
several  duties  mutually  and  solemnly  agreed  to  be  performed  by  their 
federal  compact,  and  to  prevent  unreasonable  delays  in  any  state  in 
furnisliing  her  just  proportion  of  the  common  charges  of  the  union 
wlien  called  upon,  and  those  essential  evils  which  have  heretofore  often 
arisen  to  the  confederacy  from  such  delays,  it  is  agreed  that  whenever 
a  requisition  shall  be  made  by  congress  upon  the  several  states  on  the 
principles  of  the  confederation  fur  their  quotas  of  the  common  charges 
or  land  forces  of  the  union,  congress  shall  fix  the  proper  periods  when 
the  states  shall  pass  legislative  acts  complying  therewith,  and  give  full 
aad  complete  effect  to  the  same  ;  and  if  any  state  shall  neglect  season- 


LETTEKS   AND   PAPEES.  375 

ably  to  pass  such  acts,  such  state  shall  be  charged  with  an  additional 
sum  to  her  quota  called  for  from  the  time  she  may  be  required  to  pay 
or  furnish  the  same,  which  additional  sum  or  charge  shall  be  at  the 
rate  of  ten  per  cent  per  annum  on  her  said  quota,  and  if  the  requisi- 
tion shall  be  for  land  forces,  and  any  state  shall  neglect  to  furnish  her 
quota  in  time,  the  average  exjjense  of  such  quota  shall  be  ascertained 
by  congress,  and  such  state  shall  be  charged  therewith,  or  with  the 
average  expense  of  what  she  maybe  deficient;  and  in  addition  thereto, 
from  the  time  her  forces  were  required  to  be  ready  to  act  in  the  field, 
with  a  farther  sum,  which  sum  shall  be  at  the  rate  of  twelve  per  cent 
per  annum  on  the  amount  of  such  expense. 

Art.  16.  And  that  the  resources  of  any  state  which  may  be  negli- 
gent in  furnishing  her  just  proj^ortion  of  the  common  expense  of  the 
union  may  in  a  reasonable  time  be  applied,  it  is  further  agreed  that  if 
any  state  shall  so  neglect  as  aforesaid  to  pass  laws  in  compliance  with 
the  said  requisition,  and  to  adopt  measures  to  give  the  same  full  effect 
for  the  space  of  ten  months,  and  it  shall  then  or  afterward  be  found 
that  a  majority  of  the  states  have  passed  such  laws  and  adopted  such 
measures,  the  United  States  in  congress  assembled  shall  have  full 
power  and  authority  to  levy,  assess,  and  collect  all  sums  and  duties 
with  which  any  such  state  so  neglecting  to  comply  with  the  requisition 
may  stand  charged  on  the  same  by  the  laws  and  rules  by  which  the 
last  state  tax  next  preceding  such  requisition  in  such  state  was  levied, 
assessed,  and  collected,  to  apportion  the  sum  so  required  on  the  towns 
or  counties  in  such  state,  to  order  the  sums  so  apportioned  to  be  as- 
sessed by  the  assessors  of  such  last  state  tax,  and  the  said  assessments 
to  be  committed  to  the  collectors  of  the  same  last  state  tax,  to  collect 
and  to  make  return  of  such  assessments  and  commitments  to  the  treas- 
urer of  the  United  States,  M'ho  by  himself  or  his  deputy  when  directed 
by  congress  shall  have  power  to  recover  the  moneys  of  such  collectors 
for  the  use  of  the  United  States  in  the  same  manner  and  under  the- 
same  penalties  as  state  taxes  are  recovered  and  collected  by  the  treas- 
urers of  the  respective  states  ;  and  the  several  towns  or  counties  re- 
spectively shall  be  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  said  assessors  and 
collectors ;  and  in  case  there  shall  be  any  vacancy  in  any  of  said  ofiiCes 
of  assessors  or  collectors  by  death,  removal,  refusal  to  serve,  resigna- 
tion, or  otherwise,  then  other  fit  persons  shall  be  chosen  to  fill  such 
vacancies  in  the  usual  manner  in  such  town  or  county  within  twenty 
days  after  notice  of  the  assessment;  and  in  case  any  towns  or  counties, 


376  APPENDIX. 

any  assessors,  collectors,  or  sheriffs,  shall  neglect  or  refuse  to  do  their 
duty,  congress  shall  have  the  same  rights  and  powers  to  comjjel  them, 
that  the  state  may  have  in  assessing  and  collecting  state  taxes. 

And  if  any  state  by  any  legislative  act  shall  jDrevent  or  delay  the 
due  collection  of  said  sums  as  aforesaid,  congress  shall  have  full  power 
and  authority  to  appoint  assessors  and  collectors  thereof,  and  sheriffs 
to  enforce  the  collections  under  the  warrants  of  distress  issued  by  the 
treasurer  of  the  United  States  ;  and  if  any  further  opposition  shall  be 
made  to  such  collections  by  the  state  or  the  citizens  thereof,  and  their 
conduct  not  disapproved  of  by  the  state,  such  conduct  on  the  part  of 
the  state  shall  be  considered  as  an  open  violation  of  the  federal  com- 
pact. 

Art.  17.  And  any  state  which  from  time  to  time  shall  be  found  in 
her  payments  on  any  requisition  in  advance  on  an  average  of  the  j^ay- 
ments  made  by  the  states  shall  be  allowed  an  interest  of  per  cent 
per  annum  on  her  said  advanced  sums  or  expenses,  and  the  state  which 
from  time  to  time  shall  be  found  in  arrears  on  the  principles  aforesaid 
shall  be  charged  with  an  interest  of  per  cent  per  annum  on  the 
sums  in  which  she  may  be  so  in  arrears. 

Art.  18.  In  case  it  shall  hereafter  be  found  necessary  by  congress 
to  establish  any  new  systems  of  revenue  and  to  make  any  new  regula- 
tions in  the  finances  of  the  United  States  for  a  limited  term  not  ex- 
ceeding fifteen  years  in  their  operation,  for  supplying  the  common 
treasury  with  moneys  for  defraying  all  charges  of  war  and  all  other 
expenses  that  shall  be  incurred  for  the  common  defence  or  general 
welfare,  and  such  new  systems  or  regulations  shall  be  agreed  to  and 
adopted  by  the  United  States  in  congress  assembled  and  afterward 
be  confirmed  by  the  legislatures  of  eleven  states,  and  in  that  propor- 
tion when  there  shall  be  more  than  thirteen  states  in  the  union,  the 
same  shall  become  binding  on  all  the  states  as  fully  as  if  tbe  legisla- 
tures of  all  the  states  should  confirm  the  same. 

Art.  19.  The  United  States  in  congress  assembled  shall  have  the 
sole  and  exclusive  power  of  declaring  what  offences  against  the  United 
States  shall  be  deemed  treason  and  what  offences  against  the  same 
misprision  of  treason,  and  what  offences  shall  be  deemed  piracy  or  fel- 
onies on  the  high  seas,  and  to  annex  suitable  punishments  to  all  the 
offences  aforesaid  respectively,  ajid  })ower  to  institute  a  federal  judicial 
court  for  trying  an<l  punishing  all  oflicers  appointed  by  congress  for 
all  crimes,  offences,  and  misbehavior  in  their  offices,  and  to  which  court 


LETTERS    AND    PAPERS.  377 

an  appeal  shall  be  allowed  from  the  judicial  courts  of  the  several  states 
in  all  causes  wherein  questions  shall  arise  on  the  meaning  and  con- 
struction of  treaties  entered  into  by  the  United  States  with  any  for- 
eign power,  or  on  the  law  of  nations,  or  wherein  any  question  shall 
arise  respecting  any  regulations  that  may  hereafter  be  made  by  con- 
gress relative  to  trade  and  commerce,  or  the  collection  of  federal  rev- 
enues pursuant  to  powers  that  shall  be  vested  in  that  body,  or  wherein 
questions  of  importance  may  arise,  and  the  United  States  shall  be  a 
party,  provided  that  the  trial  of  the  fact  by  jury  shall  ever  be  held 
sacred,  and  also  the  benefits  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  ;  provided, 
also,  that  no  member  of  congress  or  officer  holding  any  other  office 
under  the  United  States  shall  be  a  judge  of  said  court,  and  the  said 
court  shall  consist  of  seven  judges,  to  be  appointed  from  the  different 
parts  of  the  union,  to  wit,  one  from  New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island, 
and  Connecticut,  one  from  Massachusetts,  one  from  Xew  York  and 
New  Jersey,  one  from  Pennsylvania,  one  from  Delaware  and  Mary- 
land, one  from  Virginia,  and  one  from  North  Carolina,  South  Caro- 
lina, and  Georgia,  and  four  of  whom  shall  be  a  quorum  to  do  business. 
Art.  20,  That  due  attention  may  be  given  to  the  affairs  of  the 
union  early  in  the  federal  year,  and  the  sessions  of  congress  made  as 
short  as  conveniently  may  be,  each  state  shall  elect  her  delegates  an- 
nually before  the  first  of  July,  and  make  it  their  duty  to  give  an  an- 
swer before  the  first  of  September  in  every  year  whether  they  accept 
their  appointments  or  not,  and  make  effectual  provision  for  filling  the 
places  of  those  who  may  decline,  before  the  first  of  October  yearly, 
and  to  transmit  to  congress  by  the  tenth  of  the  same  month  the  names 
of  the  delegates  who  shall  be  appointed  and  accept  their  appointments  ; 
and  it  shall  be  the  indispensable  duty  of  delegates  to  make  a  repre- 
sentation of  their  state  in  congress  on  the  first  Monday  in  November 
annually  ;  and  if  any  delegate  or  delegates,  when  required  by  congress 
to  attend  so  far  as  may  be  necessary  to  keep  up  a  representation  of 
each  state  in  congress,  or  having  taken  his  or  their  scat,  shall  with- 
draw without  leave  of  congress,  unless  recalled  by  the  state,  he  or 
they  shall  be  proceeded  against  as  congress  shall  direct,  provided 
no  punishment  shall  be  further  extended  than  to  disqualifications 
any  longer  to  be  members  of  congress  or  to  hold  any  office  of  trust 
or  profit  under  the  United  States  or  any  individual  state  ;  and  the 
several  states  shall  adopt  regulations  effectual  to  the  attainment  of 
the  ends  of  this  article. 


378  APPENDIX. 


Otto  to  Ycrgennes,  JVeio  Ybric,  13  August^  1786. 

My  Lord  :  The  commercial  convention  which  is  to  take  place  at 
Annapolis  in  the  beginning  of  the  next  month  now  occupies  the  atten- 
tion of  all  the  legislatures  of  America.  The  delegates  have  been  ap- 
pointed, but  it  is  doubtful  whether  they  will  assemble  promptly,  and 
whether  their  minds  will  agree  upon  general  jDrinciples  of  action. 

Everybody  is  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  establishing  as  soon  as 
possible  a  general  plan  for  the  commerce  of  the  continent,  and  the 
most  eminent  personages  from  almost  all  the  states  assure  me  that  they 
desu-e  to  grant  exclusive  benefits  to  France  and  to  lay  extraordinary 
duties  on  the  commerce  of  Great  Britain. 

]\lr.  Jay  himself  has  just  spoken  to  me  on  this  subject  with  much 
ardor.  I  beg  of  you  to  permit  me  to  report  in  this  place  his  own 
words.  It  does  not  belong  to  me  to  decide  upon  the  justice  of  his 
observations,  but  it  is  my  duty  to  transmit  to  you  the  opinions  of 
the  best  informed  Americans  upon  a  subject  so  closely  connected' with 
the  prosperity  of  our  commerce.  "  We  perceive  very  clearly,"  Mr. 
Jay  said  to  me,  "  that  the  commerce  of  America  is  so  reduced  that 
extraordinary  efforts  are  necessary  to  extricate  it  from  its  present  em- 
barrassments. Europe  seems  to  neglect  us  because  we  have  little 
wealth,  but  our  situation  is  such  that  we  shall  of  necessity  become  a 
rich  and  formidable  power  when  a  numerous  j)oj)ulation  shall  cause 
our  industry  to  thrive. 

"  According  to  this  idea,  it  would  be  good  policy  to  cultivate  us 
while  we  are  young  and  need  assistance  from  European  nations  ;  but 
among  all  the  powers,  with  none  do  we  desire  more  earnestly  to  enter 
into  relations  of  friendship  and  commerce  than  with  France.  I  am 
convinced  that  the  people,  and,  above  all,  congress,  are  disposed  to 
grant  to  your  commerce  exclusive  favors,  and  to  sever  all  bonds  which 
still  bind  us  to  England. 

"Your  wines,  your  brandies,  your  manufactured  goods  of  every 
sort  suit  us  better  than  any  we  can  import  from  other  nations,  but 
there  are  two  things  constantly  opposing  the  success  of  our  trade — 
the  difficulty  of  exchange,  and  the  want  of  honesty  of  your  merchants 
in  their  consignments  to  America. 

"I  miglit  mention  further  tlic  restriction  put  upon  our  exports  by 
your  ])nvileged  companies,  but  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  these 
difficulties  will  be  dissipated  forthwith. 


LETTERS    AND    PAPERS.  379 

*'  We  liave  not  so  much  hope  with  regard  to  the  returns  which  Ave 
might  make  to  France  of  various  objects  which  the  kingdom  has 
hitherto  drawn  from  the  north  of  Europe.  In  granting  to  our  ship- 
timber  and  naval  stores  particuhir  favors,  the  two  nations  would  receive 
a  very  great  service,  and  the  Americans  would  be  supplied  with  the 
means  of  paying  for  the  goods  which  they  import  from  France.  As  to 
the  commerce  with  the  Antilles,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  by  encouraging 
the  supply  of  breadstuifs  to  the  planter,  the  price  of  sugars  would 
necessarily  be  reduced,  and  the  Bordeaux  merchants  would  make  good 
the  loss  of  a  part  of  their  trade  in  flour  by  a  largely  increased  export 
of  wines  and  other  merchandise  which  they  would  furnish  us. 

"  It  is  certain,  furthermore,  that  to  buy  the  produce  of  other  nations 
we  must  sell  our  own  commodities.  If  Portugal  receives  our  flour, 
she  will  pay  us  in  wines  ;  so  also  all  the  provisions  which  we  introduce 
into  Santo  Domingo  or  Martinique  will  serve  to  offset  the  wines  of 
Bordeaux  and  the  other  productions  of  the  kingdom. 

"  All  good  citizens  see  with  chagrin  that  the  obstacles  to  commerce 
with  the  Antilles  have  hitherto  furnished  arms  against  France  to  evil- 
intentioned  persons.  An  opinion  prevails,  and  1  cannot  avoid  sharing 
it,  that  there  is  a  secret  agreement  between  your  ministry  and  that  of 
Great  Britain  to  exclude  us  from  those  islands.  If,  instead  of  these 
difiiculties,  France  would  exert  herself  to  attract  us  by  all  sorts  of 
favors,  I  know  too  well  the  dispositions  and  the  taste  of  my  country- 
men not  to  assure  you  that  she  might  almost  monopolize  the  commerce 
of  the  United  States.  An  object  of  this  importance  demands  the 
utmost  attention  of  your  court  at  a  time  when  congress  is  about  to 
frame  a  general  act  of  navigation  ;  all  these  advances  will  be  deejily 
felt,  and  will  produce  the  best  effect." 

Similar  views,  my  lord,  have  been  expressed  to  me  by  the  principal 
members  of  congress,  and  especially  by  the  influential  men  of  Kew 
England. 

The  sentiments  of  Mr.  King,  which  I  have  had  the  honor  to  report 
to  you,  are  shared  by  but  a  few  persons  who  are  interested  in  the 
Newfoundland  fisheries.  In  general,  I  have  found  in  the  northern 
states  very  favorable  dispositions  toward  us  and  animosity  toward 
England.  It  seems  that  the  ill  success  of  the  American  commissioners 
to  the  Barbary  powers,  the  reply  of  Lord  Carmarthen  to  Mr.  Adams, 
and  the  repeated  acts  of  hostility  of  the  savages,  have  drawn  nearer  to 
us  the  heads  of  all  the  governments. 


380  APPENDIX. 

The  despatches  of  Mr,  Jefferson,  in  which  he  mentions  the  numerous 
wholesome  counsels  which  you  have  given  to  him,  have  likewise  pro- 
duced an  excellent  effect,  and  the  people  have  been  well  satisfied  with 
the  resolutions  of  the  committee  in  regard  to  the  supply  of  tobacco. 

The  contract  with  Mr.  Morris  alarmed  all  the  Virginia  planters,  and 
I  had  the  honor  to  inform  you  at  the  time  of  all  that  I  knew  on  that 
subject. 

I  transmit  these  details  with  the  more  confidence  as  I  see  by  a  letter 
of  the  Marquis  de  Castries  to  M.  de  la  Forest  that  our  court  is  not 
averse  to  lending  an  ear  to  overtures  concerning  the  means  of  facili- 
tating commerce  between  the  two  nations.  Permit  me  to  add  in  this 
place  that  every  favor  which  can  be  reconciled  with  the  real  interests 
of  our  commerce  will  be  received  by  the  Americans  with  mi;ch  grati- 
tude. Enthusiasm  easily  becomes  general  in  this  country  by  means 
of  the  public  papers,  which  are  found  in  the  hands  of  every  one  ;  and 
the  oflicial  letters  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  or  any  orrtt  of  the  council  which 
favors  any  branch  whatever  of  American  commerce,  causes  the  greatest 
sensation. 

Jlonroe  to  JIadison,  Keio  Yorl\  IJf.  August,  17S6.     Ex. 

It  is  manifest  here  that  Jay  and  his  party  in  congress  are  deter- 
mined to  pui'sue  this  business  as  far  as  possible,  either  as  a  means  of 
throwing  the  western  people  and  territory  without  the  government 
of  the  United  States,  and  keeping  the  weight  of  population  and  gov- 
ernment here,  or  of  dismembering  the  government  itself  for  the  pur- 
pose of  a  separate  confederacy.  There  can  be  no  other  object  than 
one  of  tliese,  and  I  am,  from  such  evidences  as  I  have,  doubtful  which 
hath  the  influence.  I  write  in  congress,  and  therefore  am  deprived  of 
the  advantage  of  the  ci]>her,  but  am  so  desirous  of  your  sentiments  as 
to  risk  mine  without  that  cover.  Sincerely  your  friend  and  servant, 
etc. 

Wfs/i/njton  to  Theodoric  Bland,  15  Avgnst,  1786. 

Deap.  Sir  :  I  can  only  repeat  what  I  have  formally  told  my  coun- 
trymen in  a  very  serious  manner,  "that  honesty  will  be  found,  on  every 
expei-iment,  the  best  policy."  How  far  arguments  deduced  from  this 
to])i(',  and  from  the  present  alarming  troul)les  in  Rhode  Island,  can 
with  pertinency  and  force  be  made  use  of  against  any  attempts  to 
procure  a  paper  currency  in  the  state,  I  leave  to  your  judgment  to 
decide.     The  advantages  which  are  to  be  derived  from  seminaries  of 


LETTERS    AND    PAPEES.  381 

learning,  from  the  improvement  of  our  roads,  a  proper  establishment 
of  our  militia,  the  extension  of  inland  navigation,  etc.,  must  have 
struck  you  in  too  forcible  a  manner  to  need  a  remembrancer. 

My  sentiments  respecting  federal  measures  in  general  are  so  Avell 
known  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  reiterate  them.     I  am,  etc. 

Monroe  to  Jefferson,  New  Y^orJc,  19  August,  17 S6.     Ex. 

Dear  Sir  :  My  last  advised  you  of  the  progress  of  Spanish  nego- 
tiation. Until  that  time  the  reference  of  Jay's  letter  to  a  committee 
was,  I  believe,  the  point  at  whigh  it  rested  ;  but  to  enable  you  to 
form  a  satisfactory  idea  of  the  object  of  that  letter,  I  transcribe  [the] 
only  operative  paragraph  in  it : 

"I  take  the  liberty,  therefore,  of  submitting  to  the  consideration  of 
congress  whether  it  might  not  be  advisable  to  appoint  a  committee 
with  power  to  instruct  and  direct  me  on  every  point  and  subject  rela- 
tive to  the  proposed  treaty  with  Spain."  You  are  to  observe  his  only 
ultimata  were  respecting  the  Mississippi  and  the  boundaries  ;  the  com- 
mittee, consisting  of  a  member  from  Massachusetts,  Pennsylvania,  and 
myself,  kept  it  about  two  months,  and  at  length  two  of  them  rej^orted 
that  they  be  discharged,  the  letter  referred  to  a  committee  of  the 
whole,  and  himself  ordered  to  attend. 

It  was  agreed  to,  with  this  alteration,  that  he  attend  congress  to 
explain  the  difficulties  stated  in  his  letter,  and  to  lay  before  them  a 
state  of  the  negotiation.  He  accordingly  came,  and,  being  aware  that 
objections  would  be  made  to  his  entering  into  debate,  produced  a  long 
written  speech,  which  he  read  in  virtue  of  his  office,  and  which  was 
in  substance  as  follows  : 

France,  against  our  right  to  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
in  case  of  a  variance  with  Spain  upon  that  point  against  us,  will  be  on 
good  terms  with  Spain  ;  therefore,  on  that  account  as  well  as  to  avail 
ourselves  of  her  *  influence  in  the  councils  of  Portugal,  the  Italian  states, 
and  the  Barbary  powers,  as  also  in  those  of  France  herself  ;  that  Great 
Britain  would  rejoice  to  see  us  at  variance  with  SjDain,  and  therefore 
would  foment  dissensions  between  us  ;  that  in  case  this  treaty  failed, 
Spain,  mortified  and  disappointed  in  the  eyes  of  all  Europe,  would  enter 
into  engagements  with  Britain  (or  in  resentment)  so  as  to  exclude  us 
from  her  ports.     For  these  reasons,  and  fully  to  obtain  the  confidence 

'  Her,  i.  e.,  Spain's.  The  obscurity  and  incompleteness  of  expressiou  here  and  else- 
»t  here  are  in  the  MIS.  of  Monroe's  letters. 


382  APPENDIX. 

and  good  wishes  of  that  power,  as  also  her  good  services,  in  the  lines 
aforesaid,  he  thought  it  wise  to  forbear  the  use  of  the  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi  for  twenty-five  years  or  thirty,  if  necessary,  as  a  condition 
to  obtain,  at  the  same  time,  the  following  liberal  articles  as  the  basis 
of  a  commercial  treaty  :  1.  All  commercial  confederation  shall  be 
reciprocal,  Spanish  merchants  in  the  ports  of  [America]  and  American 
merchants  in  those  of  Spain  and  the  Canaries  to  have  the  rights  of 
native  merchants  of  the  two  countries.  2.  To  establish  consuls  in 
their  respective  countries.  3.  The  hona  fide  manufactures  and  pro- 
ductions of  -both  parties,  tobacco  escepted,  to  be  admitted  into  the 
ports  aforesaid,  in  the  vessels  of  both  parties,  on  the  same  footing  as 
if  they  were  their  own  manufactures  and  productions  ;  and  further, 
that  all  such  duties  and  imposts  as  may  mutually  be  thought  necessary 
to  lay  on  them  by  either  party  shall  be  regulated  on  principles  of 
exact  reciprocity  by  a  tariff  to  be  formed  within  one  year  from  the 
ratification  of  this  treaty  ;  and,  in  the  mean  time,  they  shall  severally 
pay,  in  the  ports  of  each  other,  those  of  natives  only.  4.  Masts  and 
timber  for  the  navy  to  be  bought,  provided  they  be  as  cheap  as  in  other 
countries. 

This  was  the  amount  of  his  communications  as  to  the  project  which 
he  urged  our  adopting  by  all  the  arguments  he  could  think  of  ;  such  as, 
we  can't  obtain  the  use,  and  therefore  of  no  consequence.  We  must 
now  decide  ;  must  terminate  in  accommodation,  war,  or  disgrace — the 
last,  the  worst;  the  second,  unjDrepared  for  ;  the  first,  the  preferable 
course.  That  we  should  avail  ourselves  of  the  moment,  or  Britain 
would  ;  therefore,  no  [time]  to  lose,  with  others  of  the  same  kind.  This 
subject  hath,  since  the  above  communication,  engaged  the  attention 
of  congress  for  ten  days  past.  The  delegates  of  Massachusetts,  who 
are  his  instruments  on  the  floor,  moved  in  committee  to  repeal  his  ulti- 
mata with  a  view  of  suffering  him  to  proceed  at  pleasure,  and  upon 
tills  point  hath  the  debate  turned.  It  hath  been  manifest  they  have 
had  throughout  seven  states,  and  we,  five,  they  to  Pennsylvania  inclu- 
sive and  Delaware  absent,  the  rest  against  him  ;  we  deny  the  right  in 
seven  states  to  alter  an  instruction  so  as  to  make  it  a  new  one,  but 
they  will  proceed,  be  that  as  it  may  ;  the  treaty  in  that  event  will  be 
formed  and  soon  presented  for  ratification. 

To  prevent  this,  we  have  told  them  we  would  give  notice  to  the 
secretary  of  iho  incompetency  of  his  powers,  as  also  to  the  [minister?] 
resident  of  Spain,  to  justify  congress  in  refusing  to  ratify  if  they 


LETTERS   AND    PAPERS.  383 

should  choose  it.  In  this  state  it  remained  without  any  new  propo- 
sition until  yesterday,  being  Friday;  we  stated,  however,  in  the  close 
of  the  day  that  we  would  agree  that  a  treaty  be  formed  upon  the  fol- 
lowing conditions  : 

That  exports  be  admitted  through  the  Mississippi,  paying  at  New 
Orleans  a  duty  of  two  and  a  half  per  cent  ad  valorem  to  Spain,  to 
be  carried  thence  in  Spanish,  American,  and  French  bottoms  ;  that 
imports  be  prohibited  in  that  line.  If  this  should  be  adopted,  we  pro- 
pose to  change  the  scene  of  negotiation  and  to  carry  it  to  Madrid,  to 
take  it  out  of  the  present  and  put  it  into  yours  and  Adams's  hands. 
We  fear,  however,  and  with  too  much  reason,  that  this  will  fail ;  noth- 
ing could  have  been  more  unfortunate  than  even  the  agitation  of  this 
subject  ;  it  hath  lessened  the  ground  on  which  we  stood,  and  given 
Spain  hopes  she  had  no  reason  to  calculate  on.  "What  prospect  to  the 
general  interest  might  be  calculated  on  as  resulting  from  the  deliber- 
ations of  the  convention  at  Annapolis,  must  be  diminished — in  short, 
the  measure  strikes  me  as  every  way  highly  injudicious. 

I  am  sorry  to  inform  you  that  our  affairs  are  daily  falling  into  a 
worse  situation,  arising  more  from  the  intrigues  of  designing  men  than 
any  real  defect  in  our  system  or  distress  of  our  affairs.  The  same 
party  who  advocate  this  business  have  certainly  held  in  this  city  com- 
mittees for  dismembering  the  confederacy,  and  throwing  the  states 
eastward  the  Hudson  into  one  government.  As  yet  this  business  hath 
not  gone  far,  but  that  there  should  be  a  party  in  its  favor,  and  a  man 
heretofore  so  well  respected,  but  in  my  opinion  so  little  known,  en- 
gaged in  it,  is  to  me  very  alarming.  Congress  hath  again  required 
money  for  the  ensuing  year,  including  that  part  of  the  principal  of  the 
foreign  loans  that  becomes  due  in  that  time.  All  the  states  except 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania  have  acceded  to  the  impost  to  the  accep- 
tation of  congress  ;  the  former  hath  granted  the  revenue  accruing  from 
it,  but  hath  not  made  the  collectors  so  amenable  to  congress  as  the 
system  requires,  and  the  other  states  have  done;  and  Pennsylvania  hath 
granted  the  impost  but  suspended  its  operation  until  all  the  states  have 
granted  the  supplemental  funds.  A  committee  is  appointed  to  attend 
the  legislature  of  Pennsylvania  on  this  subject,  and  recommendation 
passed  to  the  executive  of  New  York  to  convene  the  legislature  to 
take  the  said  system  again  into  consideration.  They  meet  in  the  usual 
term  in  the  fall  or  commencement  of  the  winter.  They  have  passed 
an  ordinance  regulating  the  coin. 


384  APPETs'DIX. 

I  liave  been  apprised  of  tlie  arrival  of  the  Encyclopgedia  at  Balti- 
more. Your  late  communications  on  the  commercial  subject  have 
given  great  satisfaction  to  congress.  We  hope  the  monopoly  of  our 
tobacco  in  the  hands  of  the  Farmers  General  will  ultimately  be  abol- 
ished. The  services  of  Monsieur  Lafayette  are  acknowledged  with 
gratitude  by  congress. 

I  shall  leave  this  about  the  1st  of  October  for  Virginia,  Fredericks- 
burg. Believe  me,  I  have  not  relinquished  the  prospect  of  being  your 
neighbor.  The  house  for  which  I  have  requested  a  plan  may  possibly 
be  erected  near  Monticello  ;  to  fix  there,  and  to  have  yourself  in  par- 
ticular, with  what  friends  we  may  collect  around  for  society,  is  my  chief 
object,  or,  rather,  the  only  one  which  promises  to  me,  with  the  connec- 
tion I  have  formed,  real  and  substantial  j)leasure,  if  indeed  by  the  name 
of  pleasure  it  may  be  called. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  very  affectionately,  your  friend  and  servant,  etc. 

Otto  to  Yergennes,  New  YorJc,  23  August,  1786. 

My  Lord  :  For  more  than  a  year  Mr.  Gardoqui  has  been  negotiat- 
ing with  Mr.  Jay  a  commercial  treaty,  and  to-day  is  no  further  ad- 
vanced than  on  his  arrival  here.  Many  circumstances  conduce  to  this 
delay  which  I  think  proper  to  explain. 

The  northern  states,  which  in  all  the  commercial  negotiations  rec- 
ognise no  other  interest  than  that  of  their  fisheries,  would  be  well 
disposed  to  conclude  with  Mr.  Gardoqui  if  the  delegates  from  the  South 
did  not  propose  as  a  condition  sine  qua  non  the  opening  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. 

In  consequence  of  this  difference  of  sentiment  and  interest,  the  dele- 
gates of  the  five  southern  states  have  formed  a  league  to  break  off  com- 
pletely every  negotiation  with  Mr.  Gardoqui.  They  publicly  assert 
that  that  minister  has  no  powers  (to  conclude  a  treaty),  that  this  whole 
affair  is  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  de  Galvez,  and  that  in  general  a  negotia- 
tion of  this  importance  ought  not  to  be  entered  on  in  America,  since 
the  ease  with  which  in  a  republic  the  dispositions  of  the  sovereign 
body  are  ascertained  gives  great  advantages  to  a  foreign  minister,  Avho 
on  his  part  conceals  with  the  greatest  care  the  instructions  and  the 
ultimatum  of  his  court. 

Tlioy  fear,  moreover,  that  tlie  indifference  of  the  northern  states  to 
the  navigation  of  tlie  jMississippi  will  cause  them  to  urge  on  the  nego- 
tiation ;  and  that  they  will  find  means  to  secure  votes,  to  the  prejudice 


LETTEES    AND    PAPERS.  385 

of  the  southern  states.  In  open  congress  they  have  asserted  that 
France  alone  could  succeed  in  procuring  for  them  a  treaty  of  com- 
merce with  Spain,  and  that  they  should  negotiate  with  that  power  in 
vain  without  the  mediation  of  their  great  ally. 

In  the  midst  of  this  fermentation  the  leaders  of  this  party  came  to 
me  to  explain  to  me  the  necessity  of  having  recourse  to  your  good 
offices,  and  of  putting  this  negotiation  wholly  into  the  hands  of  his 
Majesty. 

"The  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,"  they  said  to  me,  "is  perhaj)s 
the  most  important  object  for  the  United  States  ;  the  inhabitants  of 
the  vast  and  fertile  regions  of  Kentucky,  and  of  the  neighboring  coun- 
tries, have  no  other  outlet  than  Xew  Orleans.  If  congress  is  unable 
to  procure  for  them  an  entrepot  in  that  city,  they  will  regard  its  pro- 
tection as  wholly  useless,  and  we  are  informed,  in  the  most  positive 
manner,  that  they  are  disposed  to  separate  from  the  confederation  and 
to  throw  themselves  into  the  arms  of  England,  in  order,  through  the 
lakes  and  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  to  gain  the  outlet  Avhich  is  refused 
them  on  the  Mississippi  side. 

"  In  this  case  it  will  be  easy  for  Great  Britain  to  exchange  Gibraltar 
for  West  Florida,  and  to  make  the  whole  interior  of  America  depend- 
ent upon  her.  We  earnestly  desire  to  be  in  intimate  relations  with 
Spain,  but  we  are  at  the  same  time  convinced  that  without  the  support 
of  France  we  shall  never  be  able  to  negotiate  with  success.  Some  of 
the  northern  delegates,  and  especially  Mr.  Jay,  wished  to  persuade  us 
that  France  was  opposed  to  the  opening  of  the  Mississippi ;  but  we 
know  that  peace  has  brought  about  a  new  order  of  affairs,  and  that  the 
objections  which  your  court  made  to  our  pretensions  can  no  longer  be 
based  upon  the  same  principle.  Only  the  Count  Vergeni^es  can  pro- 
cure for  us  the  advantages  we  desire  ;  we  have  written  this  to  Mr. 
Jefferson,  under  an  injunction  of  secrecy,  and  we  wish  that  your  court 
may  make  our  treaty  for  us,  or  that  no  treaty  at  all  be  made." 

After  having  declared  to  me  many  other  motives  leading  them^to 
wish  for  this  measure,  they  communicated  to  me  in  writing  the  follow- 
ing articles,  which  should  serve  as  a  basis  for  the  negotiation  : 

1.  All  the  commodities  and  productions  of  interior  America  to 
descend  the  Mississippi  in  flat-boats  to  Xew  Orleans,  which  will  be 
the  entrepot  for  those  commodities,  and  will  serve  only  for  exporta- 
tions. 

2.  The  Americans  to  pay,  on  their  arrival  at  New  Orleans,  a  duty 
VOL,  II.  25 


386  APPENDIX. 

of  two  and  a  half  per  cent  on  the  vahie  of  their  goods,  which  duty 
will  take  the  place  of  compensation  for  the  favor  asked  of  Spain. 

3.  An  American  consul  to  reside  in  that  city,  and  to  be  personally 
responsible  for  all  that  may  be  contraband. 

4.  The  said  commodities  to  be  re-exported  from  New  Orleans  only 
in  French,  Spanish,  or  American  bottoms. 

5.  Importations  of  every  sort  to  be  prohibited,  and  no  boat  to  ascend 
the  Mississippi  except  flat-boats  which  have  served  to  transport  goods 
to  New  Orleans,  and  these  empty,  or  at  most  carrying  only  jDassengers. 

6.  Spain  to  permit  French  and  American  merchants  to  reside  in  New 
Orleans,  to  deal  in  the  aforesaid  commodities. 

7.  France  to  share  in  this  commerce  because  of  her  mediation. 

In  making  these  communications  to  me,  my  lord,  the  delegates  begged 
me  to  transmit  them  to  you  at  once,  at  the  same  time  enjoining  upon 
me  the  most  profound  secrecy  toward  Mr.  Gardoqui  and  all  persons 
who  might  speak  to  me  of  this  negotiation.  Without  giving  them 
any  ho^^e,  and  conforming  to  the  orders  which  you  thought  proper  to 
give  me,  that  I  should  not  interfere  with  the  affairs  of  Spain,  I  said  to 
them  that  they  might  rely  upon  my  discretion,  and  that  I  would  com- 
municate to  you  the  confidential  conversation  which  they  had  held 
with  me. 

They  wish  to  give  powers  to  Mr,  Jefferson  to  negotiate  the  treaty 
at  Madrid,  but  to  instruct  him  in  the  most  positive  manner  to  conform 
entirely  to  your  counsels,  and  to  take  no  step  Avithout  your  consent. 
They  already  have  seven  states  on  their  side,  and  if  they  can  gain  two 
more,  which  is  very  likely,  Mr.  Jefferson  will  receive  his  instructions 
at  once. 

I  have  had  this  conference  only  a  few  hours  before  the  departure  of 
the  packet  ;  it  is  possible  that  the  passion  of  the  delegates  who  spoke 
M'ith  me  may  have  led  them  to  exaggerate  some  details.  I  shall  be 
careful  to  animadvert  in  the  future  upon  any  points  which  appear  to 
me  susceptible  of  correction,  without  losing  sight  of  the  reserve  and 
circumspection  which  you  have  enjoined  upon  me. 

Verr/ennes  to  Otto,  Versailles,  25  August,  17S6. 

I  have  received  the  despatches  which  you  have  taken  the  jiains  to 
^Tite  to  me  from  Nos.  34  to  52  inclusive. 

The  Americans,  it  appears,  are  caught  by  the  commerce  with  India, 
and  are  using  very  costly  measures  to  engage  in  it.     I  confess  I  cannot 


LETTERS    AXD    PAPERS.  387 

conceive  how  they  propose  to  carry  on  a  commerce  which  is  only  pos- 
sible with  cash,  in  regard  to  which  America  is  in  the  greatest  state  of 
penury.     Pray  tell  me  how  the  Americans  explain  this  enigma. 

The  remarks  in  America  on  the  occasion  of  the  jHracies  that  some 
American  ships  have  met  with  in  the  Mediterranean  merit  nothing  on 
our  part  but  contempt,  but  it  is  astonishing  that  congress  does  not 
think  itself  bound  by  a  sense  of  delicacy  to  put  an  end  to  that  by 
making  known  the  support  that  the  king  gives  to  the  American  com- 
missioners who  are  negotiating  in  Algiers  and  in  Morocco,  and  the 
treaty  which  has  been  signed  in  the  latter  place  with  its  regency. 
The  publication  of  this  treaty  *  would  be  the  best  refutation  that  could 
be  made  to  the  falsehoods  circulated  in  the  public  journals,  but  it  is 
not  for  us  to  take  this  pains. 

Mr.  Jefferson  has  sent  me  a  note  in  which  Mr.  Jay  seeks  to  justify 
the  delay  of  the  ratification  of  the  consular  convention.  I  think  I  may 
dispense  with  any  analysis  of  this  note.  I  merely  observe  that  con- 
gress, having  found  time  to  ratify  its  treaty  with  the  King  of  Prussia, 
might  also  have  found  it  to  ratify  the  convention  in  question. 

Pray,  make  this  remark  to  Mr,  .Jay,  premising,  however,  that  you 
have  no  orders  to  renew  your  demands  ;  that,  on  the  contrary,  you 
are  charged  to  declare  that  we  shall  very  tranquilly  await  the  pleasure 
of  congress  in  regulating  this  matter  according  to  the  precise  lan- 
guage of  the  treaty  of  the  sixth  of  February,  1778,  which  is  not  yet 
abrogated.  There  has  never  been  a  question  of  an  exchange  of  Lou- 
isiana for  a  French  possession  in  the  West  Indies,  and,  if  it  is  again 
mentioned  to  you,  you  will  formally  deny  it. 

Nothing  can  be  more  extraordinary,  sir,  than  the  claims  of  the 
Americans  to  the  commerce  of  the  isles  ;  on  hearing  them  one  would 
suppose  that  this  commerce  is  more  their  property  than  that  of  the 
sovereigns  to  whom  they  belong  ;  but,  whatever  may  be  the  excite- 
ment in  America,  we  shall  only  do  what  our  own  interests  shall  exact. 

Monroe  to  Madison,  Kew  York,  SO  August,  1786. 

Dear  Sir  :  Since  my  last  we  have  been  from  day  to  day  upon  the 
business  which  engaged  us  when  you  were  here.  They  carried  the 
repeal  by  seven  states,  in  the  committee  of  the  whole  and  afterward 
in  the  house.     "VYe  moved  to  postpone  to  take  into  consideration  the 

*  This  treaty  had  not  yet  reached  America ;  this  was  the  first  intimation  of  it. 


388  APPENDIX. 

plan  in  conformity  with  the  idea  I  suggested  to  you,  in  which  we 
entered  into  long  reasoning  upon  the  secretary's  project,  proving,  if 
we  were  well  founded,  its  futility  and  disadvantages  in  many  in- 
stances, proposing  to  take  the  negotiation  out  of  his  hands,  as  to  the 
JNIississippi  and  the  boundaries,  commit  them  to  our  charge  at  Madrid 
to  agree  on  principles  there,  the  treaty  to  be  concluded  here — that 
two  commissioners  be  added  to  him  to  enter  into  the  treaty,  and  the 
three  authorized  to  form  also  a  commercial  treaty — to  be  incorporated 
together — for  which  five  states  voted.  Their  repeal  was  afterward  car- 
ried by  seven  states  only  ;  to-day,  additional  instructions  being  added 
to  their  proposition  for  repeal  respecting  the  boundaries,  formed  with 
the  view  of  taking  in  Georgia,  were  also  only  carried  by  seven  states. 
The  president  reported  to-day  upon  the  propositions  altogether,  that 
the  question  was  lost ;  so  that  it  now  remains.  Will  Mr.  Jay  proceed  ? 
and  I  apprehend  he  will  not.  I  have  availed  myself  of  a  few  moments 
to  drop  you  this,  and  to  assure  you  of  my  friendship  and  esteem. 

Edward  Baiicroft  to  William  Fraser,  London,  2  Sept.,  1186.     Ex. 

On  the  subject  of  American  fish-oil  it  was  decided  that  the  oil  of 
the  United  States  should  hereafter  be  admitted  into  France  on  the 
same  terms  as  that  of  the  Hanse  towns,  who  in  this  particular  are  the 
most  favored  in  France,  where  their  oil,  as  I  understand,  pays  only  a 
duty  equal  to  between  three  and  four  pounds  sterling. 

The  great  subject  of  the  commerce  of  the  United  States  and  other 
foreigners  with  the  French  West  India  islands  is  likely  to  remain  ?is 
it  was  settled  by  the  edict  of  the  30th  of  August,  1784. 

Monroe  to  Madison,  N'ew  York,  S  Sejyt.,  17 S6.  Ex. 
I  consider  the  party,  especially  Jay  and  the  principal  advocates,  as 
having  gone  too  far  to  retreat.  They  must  either  carry  the  measure 
or  be  disgraced  (as  the  principal  already  hath  been  by  the  vote  of  five 
states),  and  sooner  than  suffer  this  they  will  labor  to  break  the  union. 
I  therefore  suspect  they  have  been  already  (and  indeed  have  too  much 
reason  for  my  suspicions)  intriguing  with  the  principal  men  in  these 
states  to  effect  that  end  in  the  last  resort.  They  have  even  sought  a 
dismemberment  to  the  Potomac,  and  those  of  the  party  here  have  been 
sounding  those  in  oflice  thus  far;  to  defeat  the  measure,  therefore, 
ooinjdelcly,  we  must  follow  their  movements  and  counteract  them 
everywhere  ;  advise  the  leading  men  of  their  designs,  the  purposes 


LETTERS    AND    PAPEES.  389 

they  are  meant  to  serve,  etc.,  and  in  event  of  the  worst  extremity,  pre- 
pare them  for  a  union  with  the  southern  states.  I  fear  some  of  those 
in  Pennsylvania  will  have  a  contrary  affection,  but  it  must  be  removed 
if  possible.  A  knowledge  that  she  was  on  our  side  would  blow  this 
whole  intrigue  in  the  air.  To  bring  this  about,  therefore,  is  an  im- 
portant object  to  the  southern  interest.  If  a  dismemberment  takes 
place,  that  state  must  not  be  added  to  the  eastern  scale.  It  were  as 
well  to  use  force  to  prevent  it  as  to  defend  ourselves  afterward.  I 
consider  the  convention  of  Annapolis  as  a  most  important  era  in  our 
affairs.  The  eastern  men,  be  assured,  mean  it  as  leading  further  than 
the  object  originally  comprehended.  If  they  do  not  obtain  that  things 
shall  be  arranged  to  suit  them  in  every  respect,  their  intrigues  will 
extend  to  the  objects  I  have  suggested  above.  Pennsylvania  is  their 
object.  Upon  succeeding  or  failing  with  her  will  they  gain  or  lose 
confidence.  I  doubt  not  the  emissaries  of  foreign  countries  will  be 
on  the  ground.  In  short,  I  do  consider  this  convention  as  requiring 
your  utmost  exertions,  in  the  change  things  will  infallibly  take,  as  well 
to  obtain  good  as  to  prevent  mischief.  Mr.  Randolph  will,  I  hope, 
devote  himself  to  the  public  upon  this  occasion,  and  not  suffer  himself 
to  be  taken  off  by  his  professional  pursuits  before  the  convention  dis- 
solves. I  write  you  freely,  without  the  cover  of  cipher,  knowing  you 
have  not  yours  with  you.  Indeed,  I  fear  nothing  to  the  public  or 
myself  from  a  publication,  for  I  am  satisfied,  if  the  public  were  ac- 
quainted with  the  conduct  of  their  unworthy  servants,  their  conse- 
quence would  be  of  but  short  duration.  Prevail,  I  beg  of  you,  on 
Colonel  Mason  to  attend  the  convention.  It  will  give  him  data  to  act 
on  afterward  in  the  state.     Very  sincerely,  I  am  your  friend. 

I  have  always  considered  the  regulation  of  trade  in  the  hands  of  the 
United  States  as  necessary  to  preserve  the  union  ;  without  it,  it  will 
infallibly  tumble  to  pieces,  but  I  earnestly  wish  the  admission  of  a 
few  additional  states  into  the  confederacy  in  the  southern  scale. 

[For  this  extract  and  more,  see  Rives,  ii.  123-126.] 

Otto  to  Yergannes,  Keio  YorJc,  10  SejJt.,  17S6. 
The  negotiations  relating  to  the  treaty  of  commerce  with  Spain,  of 
which  I  had  the  honor  to  give  you  an  account  in  my  last  despatch, 
have  since  been  the  constant  subject  of  the  deliberations  of  congress. 
The  southern  states  had  vainly  flattered  themselves  that  they  could 
detach  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey  from  the  league  of  the  North  ; 


390  APPENDIX. 

they  have,  however,  proposed  the  mediation  of  his  Majesty  and  the 
plan  by  which  New  Orleans  is  designated  as  a  commercial  entrepot 
for  all  the  commodities  of  the  interior.  The  only  change  which  they 
made  in  it  consisted  in  giving  full  instructions  to  Mr.  Carmichael  to 
open  negotiations  at  Madrid  instead  of  sending  Jefferson  there. 

This  project  has  met  serious  opposition  from  the  states  of  the 
Xorth.  As  to  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  they  remarked  that, 
far  from  being  advantageous  to  the  confederation,  it  would  only  serve 
to  separate  from  the  United  States  all  the  interior  country  ;  that  the 
inhabitants  of  Kentucky,  no  longer  feeling  the  necessity  of  maintain- 
ing commercial  connections  with  the  maritime  states,  and  having,  fur- 
thermore, a  policy  entirely  different  from  that  of  their  neighbors, 
would  only  think  of  rendering  themselves  wholly  independent  of  con- 
gress as  of  a  sovereign  body  from  which  they  could  derive  no  benefit ; 
that  the  fertility  of  those  countries  would  insensibly  attract  the  most 
industi'ious  inhabitants  of  the  northern  states,  who  would  not  hesi- 
tate an  instant  to  exchange  the  arid  rocks  of  Massachusetts  and  of 
Kew  Hampshire  for  the  smiling  plains  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Missis- 
sippi ;  that  a  limited  population  spread  over  an  immense  surface  would 
weaken  the  springs  of  the  government,  and  that  anarchy  and  discord 
would  inevitably  arise  from  this  state  of  affairs  ;  that  the  policy  of 
congress  ought  to  be  to  strengthen  more  and  more  the  maritime  states, 
and  to  await  the  time  when  the  surplus  of  population  would  flow 
toward  the  interior  ;  that,  independently  of  all  these  motives,  care 
should  be  taken  to  avoid  exciting  the  jealousy  of  the  savage  hordes 
which  still  infest  those  lands  ;  that  a  war  with  one  of  these  perfidious 
nations,  in  the  present  exhausted  state  of  the  finances,  would  be  one 
of  the  greatest  calamities  ;  that  the  possessions  of  the  United  States 
were  already  of  too  great  extent,  and  that  their  territory  ought  to  be 
reduced  rather  than  augmented  beyond  all  proportion  ;  that,  more- 
over, the  court  of  Spain  did  not  appear  in  the  least  disposed  to  give 
u])  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  ;  that  by  insisting  on  this  article 
would  only  irritate  his  Catholic  Majesty  and  render  him  less  disposed 
to  yield  on  the  most  essential  parts  of  the  treaty.  For  these  reasons 
it  was  necessary  not  only  to  reject  the  plan  of  mediation  proposed  by 
the  southern  states,  but  to  recall  the  ultimatum  which  proposed  the 
opening  of  the  Mississippi  as  a  condition  sine  qua  non. 

Not  confining  themselves  to  simple  arguments,  the  delegates  of  the 
North  at  once  made  a  motion  to  repeal  this  clause  of  the  ultimatum, 


LETTERS    AISHD    PAPEES.  391 

and  to  authorize  Mr.  Jay  to  conclude  with  the  Spanish  minister. 
Seven  states  having  given  their  sanction  to  the  change  in  the  instruc- 
tions, the  motion  was  passed  in  the  form  of  a  resolution. 

The  five  southern  states  protested  against  this  measure,  which  they 
called  illegal ;  they  proved  that,  according  to  the  articles  of  the  con- 
federation, the  consent  of  nine  states  was  necessary  to  give  instructions 
concerning  the  conclusion  of  a  treaty  ;  those  instructions  could  not  be 
revoked  by  seven  states  only ;  that  a  proceeding  so  extraordinary 
threatened  the  total  overthrow  of  the  constitution,  and  that  even  if 
Mr.  Jay  should  be  able  to  sign  such  a  treaty  with  Don  Diego  de  Gar- 
doqui,  they  would  never  consent  to  the  ratification  of  such  a  treaty  ; 
that  in  regard  to  the  western  country  it  would  be  useless  to  insist 
on  the  necessity  of  restricting  the  territory  of  the  United  States  ; 
that  the  fertile  plains  of  the  interior  would  always  attract  a  consid- 
erable number  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  different  states,  and  it  would 
be  easier  to  stay  a  torrent  than  the  constant  flow  of  this  population  ; 
that  everybody  knew  the  restless  spirit  of  a  people  ever  ui'ged  on  by 
necessity,  and  eager  to  change  home  and  climate  ;  and  that  the  colo- 
nists of  the  rich  countries  of  the  West,  having  no  facilities  for  export- 
ing the  surplus  of  their  produce  by  way  of  the  Mississippi,  would 
finally  without  fail  come  to  an  understanding  with  England,  in  order 
to  obtain  an  outlet  by  the  lakes  and  the  river  St.  Lawrence. 

All  these  arguments  made  not  the  least  impression  upon  the  north- 
ern delegates  ;  but  the  position  of  Mr.  Jay  becomes  very  embarrass- 
ing. The  instructions  given  by  seven  states  not  being  constitutional, 
he  cannot  conclude  his  treaty  without  encountering  bitter  reproaches 
from  the  five  southern  states,  who  loudly  accuse  him  of  having  by  all 
sorts  of  intrigues  directed  the  actions  of  the  northern  delegates,  in 
order  not  to  suffer  the  negotiation  to  slip  from  his  hand.  They  even 
threaten  to  displace  him,  or  at  least  to  give  him  two  assistants.  On 
the  other  hand,  this  minister  cannot  refuse  to  execute  the  orders  of  a 
party  of  which  he  is  himself  the  most  zealous  partisan,  without  losing 
his  popularity  and  influence. 

Whatever  Mr.  Jay's  conduct  may  be,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  this 
discussion  will  cause  a  great  coolness  between  the  two  parties,  and 
may  be  the  germ  of  a  future  separation  of  the  southern  states. 

Mr.  Gardoqui  affects  the  greatest  indifference  about  these  negotia- 
tions. Recognising  the  instability  of  the  American  governments,  the 
weakness  of  congress,  and  the  continual  fluctuation  of  political  prin- 


392  APPEl^DIX 

ciples,  he  sees  no  necessity  of  concluding  a  treaty  "which  his  Catholic 
Majesty  can  easily  do  without.  He  has  often  said  to  me  that  in  spite 
of  all  the  precautions  of  the  government  it  would  be  impossible  to  pre- 
vent contraband  trade  and  other  disorders  which  the  Americans  would 
not  fail  to  cause  ;  that  it  was  of  infinite  importance  to  his  court  not  to 
encourage  establishments  on  the  MississijDpi  which  might  one  day  be- 
come neighbors  so  much  the'  more  dangerous  for  the  Spanish  posses- 
sions, since  even  in  their  present  weakness  they  were  already  con- 
ceiving vast  schemes  for  the  conquest  of  the  western  bank  of  the 
river ;  that  the  savages  would  always  form  the  best  barrier  between 
the  two  nations  ;  and  that  nothing  better  could  be  done  than  to  leave 
matters  on  their  present  footing. 

I  have  had  the  honor  thus  far  of  explaining  to  you  merely  the 
ostensible  arguments  of  the  two  parties  ;  but  a  long  acquaintance 
with  the  affairs  of  this  country  authorizes  me,  perhaj)S,  to  divine  the 
secret  motives  of  the  heat  with  which  each  state  supports  its  opinion 
in  an  affair  which  does  not  appear  of  enough  importance  to  disturb 
their  harmony. 

The  southern  states  are  not  in  earnest  when  they  assert  that  with- 
out the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  the  inhabitants  of  the  interior 
will  seek  an  outlet  by  way  of  the  lakes,  and  will  throw  themselves 
into  the  arms  of  England.  They  know  too  well  the  aversion  of  their 
compatriots  for  that  power,  and  the  difficulty  of  conveying  heavy  car- 
goes through  the  rivers  which  lead  to  Canada. 

But  the  true  motive  of  this  vigorous  opposition  is  to  be  found  in 
the  great  preponderance  of  the  northern  states,  eager  to  incline  the 
balance  toward  their  side  ;  the  southern  neglect  no  opportunity  of 
increasing  the  population  and  importance  of  the  western  territory, 
and  of  drawing  thither  by  degrees  the  inhabitants  of  New  England, 
whose  ungrateful  soil  only  too  much  favoi'S  emigration. 

Rhode  Island,  especially,  has  already  suffered  considerably  from 
the  new  establishments  of  Ohio,  and  a  great  number  of  families  daily 
leave  their  homes  to  seek  lands  more  fertile  and  a  loss  rigorous  climate. 

This  emigration  doubly  enfeebles  New  England,  since  on  the  one 
hand  it  deprives  her  of  industrious  citizens,  and  on  the  other  it  adds  to 
the  population  of  the  southern  states. 

These  new  territories  will  gradually  form  themselves  into  separate 
governments  ;  they  will  have  their  representatives  in  congress,  and 
will  augment  greatly  the  mass  of  the  southern  states. 


LETTEKS   AND    PAPEES.  393 

All  these  considerations  make  evident  to  the  delegates  from  the 
South  the  necessity  of  promoting  by  all  sorts  of  means  their  establish- 
ments in  the  West,  and  from  this  point  of  view  a  treaty  with  Spain 
appears  to  them  most  desirable.  But  if  this  treaty  contains  only 
stipulations  in  favor  of  the  northern  fisheries,  far  from  strengthening 
themselves  against  the  too  great  j^rep on de ranee  of  the  northern  states, 
they  would  furnish  them  with  new  arms,  by  increasing  their  pros- 
perity and  the  extension  of  tbeir  commerce. 

The  conduct  of  this  thorny  negotiation  is  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Jay. 
I  am,  etc. 

Van  Berchel  to  the  States  General,  JSTeio  YorJc,  12  ScjJt.,  1786.    Ex. 

Most  of  the  states  have  issued  paper  money,  which  has  caused  the 
greatest  discords,  as  is  evident  from  the  report  that  I  made  your  H. 
M.  in  regard  to  the  state  of  Rhode  Island,  where  the  dissensions  have 
risen  to  sucb  a  height  that  the  governor  has  been  obliged  to  call  to- 
gether the  general  assembly  for  the  purpose  of  restoring  quiet.  In 
the  state  of  South  Carolina  the  planters  have,  in  the  most  solemn  man- 
ner, bound  themselves  together  to  uphold  the  credit  of  the  paper 
money  of  their  state,  to  receive  it  at  par  with  gold  and  silver,  and  to 
make  no  discount  for  payments  in  hard  money  ;  but  all  this  does  not 
hinder  a  considerable  depreciation.  In  the  state  of  Massachusetts, 
which  has  always  distinguished  itself  by  the  wisdom  of  its  measures, 
the  fire  of  discord  begins  also  to  kindle  ;  and  the  people  have  even 
assembled  in  a  tumultuous  manner  and  forcibly  hindered  the  sitting 
of  their  court. 

Monroe  to  Madison,  PMladelphia^  12  Sept.,  1786. 

Deak  Sir  :  I  arrived  here  a  few  days  since  to  press  on  the  legisla- 
ture of  this  state  a  separation  of  the  impost  from  the  supplementary 
funds.  I  have  the  most  satisfactory  evidence  they  will  I'eject  the 
proposition.  We  proceed,  therefore,  further  merely  to  discharge  our 
duty.  Both  parties  are  united  in  opposition  to  it.  To-morrow  we 
shall  be  received  by  the  legislature.  I  am  sorry  I  came  on  the  busi- 
ness. Before  this  you  have  received  ray  letter  informing  you  of  the 
subsequent  pi'ogress  and  final  close  of  the  business  which  lately  en- 
gaged us  in  congress,  or  rather  so  far  as  it  depended  on  their  direction. 
By  agreement  nothing  was  to  be  done  in  it  until  our  return.  I  expect 
to  set  out  back  in  a  day  or  two.     It  will  depend  much  on  the  opinion 


394  APPENDIX. 

of  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  as  to  the  movements  of  Jay  ;  and  that  of 
Jersey  much  on  that  of  Mr.  Clark,  now  with  you  at  Annapolis.  He 
put  Hornblower  in  congress,  and  may  turn  him  out  again,  for  he  has 
no  positive  weight  of  his  own.  Clark  has  always  been  anxious  for 
taking  the  western  lands  from  us.  I  should  suppose  him  inclined  to 
turn  it  to  the  best  account.  I  conclude,  therefore,  that  if  he  knows 
the  delegation,  especially  his  part  of  it,  pursue  a  system  of  policy  so 
contrary  to  his  own  and  to  what  is  in  effect  the  interest  of  his  coun- 
try, he  would  dismiss  Mr.  Hornblower.  Perhaps  you  may  be  able  to 
hint  to  Mr.  Chirk  that  Jersey,  except  Symmes,  was  with  the  eastern 
states  upon  this  occasion.  Mr.  Henry,  of  the  Maryland  delegation, 
has  referred  Mr.  Stone  to  you  for  information  upon  this  subject,  by 
my  request.  Mr.  Stone  is  my  friend,  and  a  very  upright,  sensible 
man.  You  will  show  him  what  part  of  my  letters  you  find  necessary. 
The  ablest  men  here  believe  and  act  on  it  in  the  rejection  of  the  prop- 
osition that  the  refusal  to  separate  the  two  parts  of  the  system  endan- 
gers the  government,  and  that  it  will  most  probably  induce  a  change  of 
some  kind  or  other.  It  is  well  for  the  southern  states  to  act  with  great 
circumspection  and  to  be  prepared  for  every  possible  event ;  to  stand 
well  with  the  middle  states  especially.  I  sincerely  wish  you  to  suffer 
no  anxiety  and  to  put  yourself  to  no  inconvenience  upon  our  private 
affair.  I  have  no  occasion  for  the  money  until  about  the  fifth  or  tenth 
of  October,  to  help  to  remove  me  to  Virginia  ;  and  even  then  it  will 
be  in  my  power  to  do  without  it  with  tolerable  convenience  if  you 
should  find  it  inconvenient  to  command  it.  Believe  me,  it  will  put 
me  to  no  inconvenience.  My  engagements  are  but  few,  and  those 
within  my  control.  Let  me  hear  from  you  as  often  as  possible.  Re- 
member me  to  Colonel  Tucker  and  his  lady,  to  the  rest  of  your  col- 
leagues, and  to  Mr.  Stone,  and  believe  me,  sincerely,  your  friend  and 
servant,  etc. 

Colonel  Grayson  came  with  me  in  the  interval  to  relax  from  busi- 
ness and  meet  his  lady  here.  She  is  with  him,  but  unfortunately  he 
is  afflicted  with  an  extraordinary  disease.  The  physicians  differ  in 
the  name.  He  is  often  delirious — is  afflicted  with  strange  fancies  and 
apprehensions  ;  in  the  morning  he  is  better  than  in  the  latter  end  of 
the  day  and  night,  at  which  time  his  infirmity  rages.  It  is  supposed 
by  some  to  be  the  floating  gout,  Shippen  calls  it  a  bilious  affection 
of  the  nerves.  The  very  close  attention  he  hath  lately  paid  to  busi- 
ness, with  the  laborious  exercise  of  the  mind  and  the  want  of  that 


LETTERS   AND    PAPEEa  395 

of  tlie  body,  I  fear,  hath  given  birth  to  it.     To-day  he  hath  been 
better  than  heretofore. 

Otto  to  Vergennes,  Keio  York,  20  Sept.,  1786. 

The  want  of  energy  in  the  separate  government  of  the  states  had 
till  now  occasioned  few  commotions  injurious  to  the  repose  and  to  the 
security  of  the  citizens,  and  it  was  hoped  that  congress  would  insensi- 
bly take  the  stability  that  was  supposed  to  be  observable  in  the  inte- 
rior organization  of  the  states  ;  but  the  licentiousness  of  a  greedy  pop- 
ulace has  just  shaken  the  basis  of  the  government,  which  had  hitherto 
been  regarded  as  the  most  solid  and  the  most  perfect  of  the  whole 
confederation,  and  it  is  seen  too  late  that  the  American  constitutions, 
so  generally  admired,  are  far  from  being  exempt  from  defects. 

The  common  people  of  Massachusetts,  indignant  at  not  having  ob- 
tained the  emission  of  paper  money,  ran  together  in  several  districts, 
with  arms  in  hand,  to  suspend  the  courts  of  justice  and  to  prevent  the 
recovery  of  debts.  Governor  Bowdoin  having  neglected  instantly  to 
assemble  the  militia,  the  insurgents  went  so  far  as  to  disperse  the 
judges  and  the  advocates.  They  demanded  with  loud  cries  the  aboli- 
tion of  courts  of  justice,  the  holding  of  the  sessions  of  the  legislative 
assembly  in  any  other  town  but  Boston,  the  reduction  of  salaries 
granted  to  public  officers,  a  new  emission  of  paper  money,  the  lib- 
eration of  those  imprisoned  for  debt,  the  settlement  of  the  accounts 
of  the  United  States,  the  prohibition  of  every  object  of  luxury  im- 
ported from  abroad,  the  diminution  of  taxes,  the  absolute  liberty  of 
the  press,  and  the  abolition  of  the  senate  or  upper  chamber. 

This  last  article  attacks  the  very  basis  of  the  constitution,  and  tends 
to  establish,  after  the  example  of  Pennsylvania,  a  perfect  democracy. 

The  courts  of  justice  are  at  present  protected  by  troops,  and  by 
several  companies  of  artillery.  Congress  being  informed  that  the  sedi- 
tious had  drawn  near  to  Springfield,  and  that  the  arsenals  of  the 
United  States  were  in  danger.  General  Knox,  minister  of  war,  received 
orders  to  go  there  immediately  and  to  order  a  respectable  corps  of 
militia  to  march  there.  The  proclamation  of  the  governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts, the  circular  letters  of  the  town  of  Boston,  and  other  princi- 
pal towns,  the  proceedings  of  the  different  municipal  assemblies,  and 
the  measures  taken  by  the  seditious  to  disperse  the  courts  of  justice, 
are  to  be  found  in  the  gazettes  that  I  have  the  honor  to  send  you.  To 
these  details  I  will  only  add  the  reflections  of  the  most  enlightened 


396  APPEISTDIX. 

patriots  on  this  factious  event.  They  perceive  that  in  forming  the 
different  constitutions  they  had  too  great  need  of  the  assistance  of  the 
common  people  not  to  grant  to  them  much  more  than  the  repose  of  the 
republic,  the  security  of  the  citizen,  and  the  energy  of  the  government 
can  sustain  ;  that  an  entire  and  unlimited  liberty  is  a  phantom  which 
has  never  been  able  to  exist  but  at  the  expense  of  public  tranquillity  ; 
that  the  theory  of  the  three  jiowers  equally  distributed  is  sublime,  but 
that  practice  offers  a  thousand  difficulties  which  ought  to  have  been 
foreseen  ;  that  the  executive  power  is  much  too  weak  in  America  ; 
that  the  simplicity  of  the  chiefs  renders  them  contemptible  in  the  eyes 
of  the  multitude,  which  judges  only  by  the  senses,  and  that  there  is  need 
of  strokes  of  authority,  of  arms,  and  of  lictors,  to  make  the  govern- 
ment respected.  These  principles  are  confirmed  by  a  scene  like  that 
in  Massachusetts  which  took  j^lace  in  New  Hampshire.  About  three 
hundred  mutineers  met  near  Exeter,  to  break  up  the  court  of  justice  ; 
but  Governor  Sullivan,  a  distinguished  officer  during  the  war,  instantly 
put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  militia,  dispersed  the  insurgents,  and 
dispersed  the  chiefs  of  the  revolt.  The  people  of  Connecticut  have 
equally  made  some  efforts  for  the  abolishment  of  debts  and  breaking 
up  the  courts  of  justice,  but  the  vigilance  of  the  governor  has  thus  far 
prevented  any  overt  act.  It  must  be  agreed  that  these  insurrections 
are  in  a  great  part  due  to  the  scarcity  of  specie.  In  the  small  state  of 
Connecticut  alone  more  than  five  hundred  farms  have  been  offered  for 
sale  to  pay  the  arrears  of  taxes.  As  these  sales  take  place  only  for 
cash,  they  are  made  at  the  very  lowest  price,  and  the  proprietoi's  often 
receive  not  more  than  one  tenth  of  the  value.  The  people  feel  the 
deadly  consequences  of  this  oppression,  but,  not  being  able  to  discover 
its  true  cause,  it  turns  upon  the  judges  and  the  lawyers.  In  the  states 
which  have  paper  money  the  rigor  of  the  laws  is  less  desolating  for 
the  farmer,  since  he  can  always  get  paper  enough  to  satisfy  his  engage- 
ments; and,  besides,  the  creditors  are  less  urgent.  These  details  prove 
but  too  much  the  inability  of  the  United  States  to  fulfil  at  this  time 
their  engagements  to  France.  Not  only  congress  has  not  power  to 
collect  sums  called  for  in  its  different  requisitions,  but  the  separate 
states  arc  deprived  of  the  vigor  necessary  to  constrain  their  citizens, 
and  they  themselves  have  not  the  means  of  paying  in  specie  the  mod- 
erate taxes  which  are  imposed  on  them.  The  exhaustion  of  the  fed- 
eral treasury  is  carried  to  an  inconceivable  point.  It  has  not  been 
possible  to  pay  me  several  infinitely  small  pittances  due  to  French 


LETTEES    A]ST)    PAPERS.  397 

officers.  The  assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  wishing  to  transmit  to  pos- 
terity the  testimony  of  its  gratitude  for  the  services  which  the  Cheva- 
lier de  la  Luzerne  has  rendered  to  the  union,  has  just  given  his  name 
to  a  new  county. 

Monroe  to  Madison,  N'ew  YorJc,  29  Sept.,  1786. 
Dear  Sir  :  Since  my  last  it  has  been  proposed  that  each  delegation 
be  at  liberty  to  communicate  to  the  legislature  of  the  state  to  which 
they  belong  the  projects  of  Mr.  Jay  and  the  proceedings  of  congress 
thereon,  and  negatived.  The  journal  has  been  handed  to  Mr.  Jay. 
As  yet  he  has  said  nothing,  nor  have  we  information  what  course  he 
means  to  take,  except  from  those  here  in  his  party,  who  affirm  he  will 
proceed.  I  wrote  some  weeks  since  to  Colonel  Mason  upon  this  sub- 
ject, at  the  time  I  wrote  Governor  Henry,  but  have  received  no 
answer  from  him,  from  which  circumstance,  as  well  as  that  of  R.  H. 
Lee's  being  in  the  opposite  sentiment,  there  is  room  to  conjecture  he 
is  not  with  us.  R.  H.  L.,  I  conclude,  has  been  influenced  by  Arthur, 
who  has  been  intriguing  on  the  other  side  to  serve  his  own  purposes, 
and  leaving  the  business  of  the  treasury  board  to  Billy  Duer.  Bland 
is  also  in  the  assembly,  so  that  possibly  the  pai-ty  in  favor  of  this  pro- 
ject may  have  advocates  with  us.  I  hope  Colonel  Grayson  hath  recov- 
ered. Be  so  kind  as  to  make  my  best  respects  to  himself  and  lady, 
and  believe  me  your  friend  and  servant,  etc. 

Henry  Hill  to  Washington,  Philadelphia,  1  Oct.,  17S6.     Ex,. 

I  lately  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  Mr.  King's  harangue  to  ouf 
assembly  on  the  subject  of  the  commission  with  which  he  and  Mr. 
Monroe  were  charged  by  congress.  It  was  truly,  to  the  best  of  my 
judgment,  adapted  to  insure  applause  even  from  an  Attic  audience.' 
Virginia  appeared  in  the  most  advantageous  light.  Should  her  liberal 
support  of  the  union  be  withdrawn,  and  Pennsylvania  refuse  hers,  he 
represented  with  wonderful  effect  what  would  become  of  our  state 
regulations,  of  the  renown  of  our  heroes  and  patriots  ;  they  would  all 
be  swept  away  and  utterly  lost. 

The  impression  made  on  the  house  in  favor  of  the  point  "  suppli- 
cated" was  remarkably  though  tacitly  confessed,  and  had  the  mera- 

*  J.  P.  Brissot,  Xonveau  Voyage,  i.  l'7r>,  le  plus  eloquent  des  Etats-ITnis.  Ce  qni 
says  of  King :  "  il.  King,  que  je  vis  ^  ce  me  f rappa  dans  lui,  c'etait  sa  modestie.  II 
diner  (chez  Hamilton),  passait  pour  I'homme     parassait  igaoier  ce  qu'il  valait." 


398  APPENDIX. 

bers  individually  been  questioned  on  the  spot  whether  the  impost 
should  be  granted  without  reserve,  no  one  doubts  it  would  have  suc- 
ceeded. They  chose,  however,  on  cool  deliberation  to  refer  the  im- 
portant business  to  the  next  assembly.  Whether  or  not  such  a  meas- 
ure is  practicable  appears  very  doubtful. 

3L'.  Temple  to  Lord  Carmarthen,  JVeic  YorJc,  Jp  Oct.,  1786.     Ex. 

My  Lord  :  In  my  letter  No.  5,  of  the  ninth  of  April,  I  took  the 
liberty  of  offering  my  sentiments  briefly  to  your  lordship  upon  the 
then  prospect  of  public  affairs  in  these  states,  and  mentioned  that  I 
thought  the  necessary  supj^lies  for  the  support  of  government  and  to 
pay  the  interest  only  of  their  public  debt  would  soon  be  found  too 
great  and  weighty  for  these  people  to  bear  ;  that  period  is  now  ap- 
proaching fast.  Mobs,  tumults,  and  bodies  of  men  in  arms  are  now 
on  tiptoe  in  various  parts  of  this  country,  all  tending  to  the  dissolu- 
tion of  not  only  what  is  called  the  supreme  power  (congress)  but  to 
bring  into  contempt  and  disregard  the  legislatures  and  governments 
of  the  several  states.  At  this  hour,  while  I  am  writing,  I  have  un- 
doubted intelligence  that  at  Springfield  (a  county  town  in  the  state  of 
Massachusetts)  more  than  fifteen  hundred  men  in  arms  are  there  as- 
sembled to  stop  the  proceedings  of  the  courts  of  justice  until  the  con- 
stitution of  government  be  altered  and  reformed  to  their  approbation  ! 
and  that  about  one  thousand  militia  (horse  and  foot),  by  order  of  the 
governor,  are  there  also  assembled  to  support  government  against  the 
said  insurgents  !  In  the  mean  time  the  governor  of  that  state  hath, 
by  special  proclamation,  called  the  legislature  to  meet  as  upon  last 
Thursday  ;  and  upon  the  proceedings  and  doings  of  that  legislature  it 
seems  to  depend  whether  or  not  arms  shall  decide  the  matter  between 
the  contending  parties  !  Public  affairs  are  much  the  same  in  the  state 
of  New  Hampshire.  The  whole  legislative  body  of  that  state  were, 
for  four  hours,  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  a  tumultuous  assembly  in 
arms  !  Indeed,  dissatisfaction  and  uneasiness  prevail  more  or  less 
throughout  this  country  ;  the  greater  part  of  the  people  poor,  and 
many  in  desperate  circumstances,  do  not,  it  seems,  want  any  govern- 
ment at  all,  but  had  rather  have  all  power  and  property  reduced  to  a 
level,  and  it  is  more  than  probable  that  general  confusion  will  take 
place  before  any  ])ermanent  government  be  estal)lished  in  this  un- 
happy country.  Perhaps,  in  the  hour  of  their  confusion  and  distress, 
some  or  all  of  the  states  may  seek  for  European  friendship,  counsel, 


LETTERS   AND    PAPERS.  399 

and  advice  ;  if  they  do,  ray  most  hearty  wish  is,  that  wisdom  may 
lead  them  to  look  up  to  that  sovereign  to  whom  they  once  happily 
belanged,  and  who  only,  of  all  sovereigns  upon  earth,  hath  or  can 
have  any  unfeigned  regard  for  their  real  welfare  and  happiness.  My 
voice  and  my  utmost  influence  in  this  country,  still  guided  by  pru- 
dence, shall  steadfastly  and  faithfully  correspond  with  such  my  wishes. 

Otto  to  Verffennes,  Neio  York,  10  Oct.,  17 SO. 

My  Lord  :  The  commissioners  appointed  by  various  states  to  pro- 
pose a  general  plan  of  commerce,  and  to  give  to  congress  the  jDowers 
necessary  to  execute  it,  assembled  at  Annapolis  in  the  course  of  last 
month.  But  five  states  alone  being  represented,  they  did  not  think  it 
best  to  enter  into  the  main  question,  and  confined  themselves  to  ad- 
dressing to  congress  and  the  different  legislatures  a  report  which  char- 
acterizes the  present  spirit  of  the  politics  of  this  country. 

In  translating  this  report  I  have  not  merely  taken  the  pains  to  put 
it  into  French,  but  to  render  it  intelligible.  The  effort  was  made  to 
give  to  the  original  an  obscurity  wliich  the  people  will  penetrate  with 
difficulty,  but  which  the  strong  and  enlightened  citizens  will  not  fail 
to  turn  to  account. 

For  a  very  long  time,  my  lord,  the  necessity  of  imparting  to  the 
federal  government  more  energy  and  vigor  has  been  felt,  but  it  has 
also  been  felt  that  the  excessive  independence  granted  to  the  citizens, 
as  regards  the  states,  and  to  the  states  as  regards  congress,  is  too  dear 
to  individuals  for  them  to  be  deprived  of  it  without  great  precautions. 

The  people  are  not  ignorant  that  the  natural  consequences  of  an  in- 
crease of  power  in  the  government  would  be  a  regular  collection  of 
taxes,  a  strict  administration  of  justice,  extraordinary  duties  on  im- 
ports, rigorous  executions  against  debtors — in  short,  a  marked  pre- 
ponderance of  rich  men  and  of  large  proprietors. 

It  is,  however,  for  the  interest  of  the  j^eople  to  guard  as  much  as  pos- 
sible the  absolute  freedom  granted  them  in  a  time  when  no  other  law 
was  known  but  necessity,  and  when  an  English  army,  as  it  were,  laid 
the  foundations  of  the  political  constitution. 

In  those  stormy  times  it  was  necessary  to  agr«ee  that  all  power  ought 
to  emanate  only  from  the  people  ;  that  everything  was  subject  to  its 
supreme  will,  and  that  the  magistrates  were  only  its  servants. 

Although  there  are  no  nobles  in  America,  there  is  a  class  of  men  de- 
nominated "gentlemen,"  who,  by  reason  of  their  wealth,  their  talents. 


400  APPENDIX. 

their  ediicatioB,  their  families,  or  the  offices  they  hold,  aspire  to  a  pre- 
eminence which  the  people  refuse  to  grant  them  ;  and,  although  many 
of  these  men  have  betrayed  the  interests  of  their  order  to  gain  popu- 
larity, there  reigns  among  them  a  connection  so  much  the  more  inti- 
mate as  they  almost  all  of  them  dread  the  efforts  of  the  people  to 
despoil  them  of  their  possessions,  and,  moreover,  they  are  creditors, 
and  therefore  interested  in  strengthening  the  government,  and  watch- 
ing over  the  execution  of  the  laws. 

These  men  generally  pay  very  heavy  taxes,  while  the  small  proprie- 
tors escape  the  vigilance  of  the  collectors. 

The  majority  of  them  being  merchants,  it  is  for  their  interest  to  es- 
tablish the  credit  of  the  United  States  in  Europe  on  a  solid  foundation 
by  the  exact  payment  of  debts,  and  to  grant  to  congress  powers  exten- 
sive enough  to  compel  the  people  to  contribute  for  this  purpose.  The 
attempt,  my  lord,  has  been  vain,  by  pamphlets  and  other  publications, 
to  spread  notions  of  justice  and  integrity,  and  to  deprive  the  people  of 
a  freedom  which  they  have  so  misused.  By  proposing  a  new  organiza- 
tion of  the  federal  government  all  minds  would  have  been  revolted  ; 
circumstances  ruinous  to  the  commerce  of  America  have  happily  arisen 
to  furnish  the  reformers  with  a  pretext  for  introducing  innovations. 

They  represented  to  the  people  that  the  American  name  had  become 
opprobrious  among  all  the  nations  of  Europe  ;  that  the  flag  of  the 
United  States  was  everywhere  exposed  to  insults  and  annoyance  ;  the 
husbandman,  no  longer  able  to  export  his  produce  freely,  would  soon 
be  reduced  to  extreme  want ;  it  was  high  time  to  retaliate,  and  to 
convince  foreign  powers  that  the  United  States  would  not  with  im- 
punity suffer  such  a  violation  of  the  freedom  of  trade,  but  that 
strong  measures  could  be  taken  .only  with  the  consent  of  the  thirteen 
states,  and  that  congress,  not  having  the  necessary  powers,  it  was 
essential  to  form  a  general  assembly  instructed  to  present  to  congress 
the  plan  for  its  adoption,  and  to  point  out  the  means  of  carrying  it 
into  execution. 

Tlie  people,  generally  discontented  with  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of 
commerco,  and  scarcely  suspecting  the  secret  motives  of  their  oppo- 
nents, ardently  embraced  tliis  measure,  and  appointed  commissioners, 
who  were  to  assemble  at  Annapolis  in  the  beginning  of  September. 

The  authors  of  this  proposition  had  no  hope,  nor  even  desire,  to  see 
the  success  of  this  assembly  of  commissioners,  which  \vas  only  intended 
to  prepare  a  question  much  more  important  than  that  of  commerce. 


LETTEES   AND    PAPERS.  401 

The  measures  were  so  well  taken  that  at  the  end  of  September  no 
more  than  five  states  were  represented  at  Annapolis,  and  the  commis- 
sioners from  the  northern  states  tarried  several  days  at  New  York,  in 
order  to  retard  their  arrival. 

The  states  which  assembled,  after  having  waited  nearly  three  weeks, 
separated  under  the  pretext  that  they  were  not  in  sufficient  numbers 
to  enter  on  business,  and,  to  justify  this  dissolution,  they  addressed  to 
the  different  legislatures  and  to  congress  a  report,  the  translation  of 
which  I  have  the  honor  to  enclose  to  you. 

In  this  paper  the  commissioners  employ  an  infinity  of  circumlocutions 
and  ambiguous  phrases  to  show  to  their  constituents  the  impossibility 
of  taking  into  consideration  a  general  plan  of  commerce  and  the  pow- 
ers pertaining  thereto,  without  at  the  same  time  touching  upon  other 
objects  closely  connected  with  the  prosperity  and  national  importance 
of  the  United  States. 

Without  enumerating  these  objects,  the  commissioners  enlarge  upon 
the  present  crisis  of  public  affairs,  upon  the  dangers  to  which  the  eon- 
federation  is  exposed,  ujjon  the  want  of  credit  of  the  United  States 
abroad,  and  upon  the  necessity  of  uniting,  under  a  single  point  of 
view,  the  interests  of  all  the  states. 

They  close  by  proposing,  for  the  month  of  May  next,  a  new  assem- 
bly of  commissioners,  instructed  to  deliberate  not  only  upon  a  general 
plan  of  commerce,  but  upon  other  matters  which  may  concern  the  har- 
mony and  welfare  of  the  states,  and  upon  the  means  of  rendering  the 
federal  government  adequate  to  the  exigencies  of  the  union. 

In  spite  of  the  obscurity  of  this  document,  you  will  perceive,  my 
lord,  that  the  commissioners  were  unwilling  to  take  into  consideration 
the  grievances  of  commerce,  which  are  of  exceeding  interest  for  the 
people,  without  at  the  same  time  perfecting  the  fundamental  constitu- 
tion of  congress. 

It  is  hoped  that  new  commissioners  will  be  appointed,  with  ample 
powers  to  deliberate  on  these  important  objects,  and  to  place  congress 
in  a  position  not  only  to  form  resolutions  for  the  prosperity  of  the 
union,  but  to  execute  them. 

Monroe  to  Jefferson,  JSTexo  York,  12  Oct.,  17S6.     Ex. 
I  set  out  to-morrow  for  Virginia  with  Mrs.  Monroe  by  land.     My 
residence  will  be  for  the  present  in  Fredericksburg.     ]My  attention  is 
turned  to  Albemarle  for  my  ultimate  abode.     The  sooner  I  fix  there 
VOL.  n.  26 


402  APPE^T)IX. 

the  more  agreeable  it  will  be  to  me.  I  should  be  liappy  to  keep  clear 
of  the  bar  if  possible,  and  at  present  I  am  wearied  with  the  business 
in  which  I  have  been  engaged.  It  has  been  a  year  of  excessive  labor 
and  fatigue,  and  unprofitably  so. 

n.  Lee,  Jr.,    to  Washington,  Kexc  Yorl:,  17  Oct.,  1786.     Ex. 

My  dear  General  :  In  my  last  letter  I  detailed  the  eastern  com- 
motions and  communicated  my  apprehensions  of  their  objects  and 
issue.  G.  Knox  has  just  returned  from  thence,  and  his  report,  grounded 
on  his  own  knowledge,  is  replete  with  melancholy  information. 

We  are  all  in  dire  apprehension  that  a  beginning  of  anarchy  with 
all  its  calamities  has  approached,  and  have  no  means  to  stop  the  dread- 
ful work.  Individuals  suggest  the  propriety  of  inviting  you  from  con- 
gress to  pay  us  a  visit,  knowing  your  unbounded  influence,  and  believ- 
ing that  your  appearance  among  the  seditious  might  bring  them  back 
to  peace  and  reconciliation,* 

David  Stuart  to  Washington,  JRichmond,  S  Kov.,  17S6.     Ex. 

Dear  Sir  :  You  will  learn  the  issue  of  this  from  the  enclosed  note.' 
The  strong  language  in  which  this  offspring  of  iniquity  is  condemned 
will,  it  is  hoped,  have  some  operation  on  future  fegislatures,  and  by 
banishing  the  idea  of  it  from  among  the  people  be  the  means  of  en- 
couraging-industry and  economy,  the  true  sources  of  public  happiness. 
From  a  conception  that  the  vote  on  this  subject  might  have  some 
effect  on  the  policy  of  other  states  where  the  measure  is  not  yet 
adopted,  the  printer  was  ordered  to  publish  it,  with  a  request  to  the 
printers  throughout  the  continent  to  do  the  same. 

As  a  further  proof  of  the  high  regard  which  seems  at  present  to 
prevail  for  the  preservation  of  national  faith,  I  have  to  inform  you 
that  an  attempt  to  reduce  the  certificates  by  a  scale  has  been  unani- 
mously rejected. 

The  ease  with  which  these  two  bugbears  have  been  removed  give 
me  a  hope  that  a  similar  propriety  will  characterize  all  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  present  assembly. 

You  have,  no  doubt,  heard  that  the  attorney  [Edmund  Randolph] 

'  This  i3  from  the  Icttor  to  which  Wash-  cnco  is  to  be  founrl,  or,  if  attainable,  that 

insrtoii,  on  tlu;  thirty  first,  in  part   replies:  it  would  1)0  a  proper  remedy  for  the  disor- 

"  You  talk,  my  f;of)d  sir,  of  employing  inllu-  dcra.     Influence  is  no  E;ovcrnnient." 

cncc  to  nppca'^e  the  present  tumulis  in  Mas-  "  Resolutions  coudcmaiug  paper  money. 
eachuHC'tts.     I  know  not  where  that  inllu- 


LETTEES    AND    PAPERS.  403 

was  a  candidate  for  the  chief  magistracy.  As  there  has  never  been 
a  senate  before  yesterday,  the  election  for  this  place  and  delegates  to 
congress  was  made.  The  attorney  was  chosen  by  a  great  majority. 
The  other  candidates  were  R.  H.  Lee  and  Colonel  Bland.  The  dele- 
gates to  congress  are  Messrs.  Madison,  Grayson,  Carrington,  R.  II. 
Lee,  and  Joseph  Jones.     Colonel  Lee,  you  observe,  is  left  out. 

From  the  progress  made  to-day  in  two  acts,  one  for  immediately 
empowering  commissioners  to  meet  for  the  purpose  of  fixing  on  similar 
taxes  on  imported  articles  with  the  states  of  Maryland  and  Pennsylva- 
nia, and  the  other  agreeable  to  the  recommendation  of  the  commission- 
ers at  Annapolis,  there  can  be  little  doubt  of  their  ultimately  passing. 

The  subject  of  the  latter  commission — the  amending  the  articles  of 
the  confederation — is  important  and  delicate,  but  absolutely  necessary. 
From  some  conversation  with  Mr.  Madison  on  this  business  I  have 
reason  to  think  you  will  be  requested  to  act  in  it. 

D.  Humphreys  to  Washington,  New  Haven,  9  Kov.,  1786.  Ex. 
In  Massachusetts  the  assembly  of  that  state  are  occupied  in  remov- 
ing all  the  real  subjects  of  hardship  and  complaint.  They  have  like- 
wise passed  a  new  riot  act,  and  given  some  indications  of  spirit  in 
support  of  government.  But  still  the  preparations  and  sj'^stematic 
arrangements  on  the  part  of  the  mob  do  not  cease.  You  will  have 
seen  by  the  speech  of  Mr.  King  before  that  legislature  that  congress 
consider  themselves  as  the  guarantees  of  each  state  government,  and 
bound  to  interfere  in  its  support  under  certain  circumstances. 

Olto  to  Verjemies,  Neio  Tor/:,  10  Nov.,  17S6.  Ex. 
The  resolutions  of  the  convention  of  Annapolis,  which  I  had  the 
honor  to  communicate  to  you,  have  as  yet  been  adopted  only  by 
Virginia.  The  other  states  are  little  disposed  to  introduce  a  new 
system  of  confederation,  and  congress  appears  to  wish  to  reserve  to 
.  itself  the  right  of  proposing  the  changes  necessary  to  consolidate  the 
union.  With  this  view  it  has  appointed  a  grand  committee,  composed 
of  a  member  from  each  state,  to  submit  the  alterations  to  be  made  in 
the  old  system. 

Wash'mgton  to  Thomas  Johnson,  12  Nov.,  1786.     Ex. 
The  want  of  energy  in  the  federal  government  ;  the  pulling  of  one 
state  and  parts  of  states  against  another  ;  and  the  commotions  among 


404  APPENDIX. 

the  eastern  people,  have  sunk  our  national  character  much  below  par, 
and  have  brought  our  politics  and  credit  to  the  brink  of  a  precipice. 
A  step  or  two  more  must  plunge  us  into  inextricable  ruin.  Liberality, 
justice,  and  unanimity  in  those  states  which  do  not  appear  to  have 
drunk  so  deep  of  the  cup  of  folly  may  yet  retrieve  our  affairs,  but  no 
time  is  to  be  lost  in  essaying  the  reparation  of  them. 

Was/ii?}r/ton  to  David  Stuart,  19  N'ov.,  1786.  Ex. 
However  delicate  the  revision  of  the  federal  system  may  appear,  it 
is  a  work  of  indispensable  necessity.  The  present  constitution  is  inad- 
equate ;  the  superstructure  is  tottering  to  its  foundation,  and  without 
helps  will  bury  us  in  its  ruins.  Although  I  never  more  intended  to 
appear  on  a  public  theatre,  and  had  in  a  public  manner  bid  adieu  to 
public  life,  yet,  if  the  voice  of  my  country  had  called  me  to  this  im- 
portant duty,  I  might,  in  obedience  to  the  repeated  instances  of  its 
attention  and  confidence,  have  dispensed  with  these  ;  but  an  objection 
now  exists  which  would  render  my  acceptance  of  this  appointment 
impracticable  with  any  degree  of  consistency. 

Washington  to  Edmund  Randolph,  19  Kov.,  1786. 

Dear  Sir  :  It  gave  me  great  pleasure  to  hear  that  the  voice  of  the 
country  had  been  directed  to  you  as  chief  magistrate  of  this  common- 
wealth, and  that  you  had  accepted  the  appointment. 

Our  affairs  seem  to  be  drawing  to  an  awful  crisis  ;  *  it  is  necessary, 
therefore,  that  the  abilities  of  every  man  should  be  drawn  into  action 
in  a  public  line,  to  rescue  them,  if  possible,  from  impending  ruin.  As 
no  one  seems  more  fully  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  adopting  such 
measures  than  yourself,  so  none  is  better  qualified  to  be  entrusted  with 
the  reins  of  government.  I  congratulate  you  on  this  occasion,  and, 
with  sincere  regard  and  respect,  am,  etc. 

William  Grayson  to  Monroe,  New  York,  22  Nov.,  1786.     Ex. 

Colonel  Lee  has  heard  of  his  being  left  out  of  the  delegation,  and  is 

far  from  being  pleased  at  the  circumstance  ;  I  own  I  am  surprised  at 

R.  II.  Lee's  being  continued,  when  he  did  not  serve  a  day  last  year  ; 

*  Washinf^on's  words  reappear  in  Gov-  breathes  a  spirit  truly  federal,  and  contains 

emor  Randolph,  of  Vii<rii)ia,  to  President  an  effort  to  support  our   p;eneral   govern- 

J)i(:kinson,    of   Pennsylvania:    "Richmond,  ment,  which  is  now  reduced  to  the  most 

I)i'c.  1,  17s*).     Sir:   1  fed  a  peculiar  satis-  awful  crisis,  i)criiiit  nic  to  solicit  your  Excel- 

faetion  in  forwardin;;  to  your  Excellency  the  Icnry's  co-operation  at  this  tryint)f  moiucut." 

enclosed  act    of    our    Ic^jislature.      As    it  — Pcun.  Archives,  1780-1790,  623. 


LETTERS    AND    PAPERS.  *  405 

had  Colonel  Lee  been  continued  instead  of  him,  all  would  have  been 
right ;  he  is  preparing  to  return  to  Virginia.  I  wish  that  R.  11.  Lee 
may  resign,  and  he  be  elected  in  his  room. 

The  disturbances  in  Massachusetts  bay  have  been  considerable,  and 
absolutely  threaten  the  most  serious  consequences.  It  is  supposed  the 
insurgents  are  encouraged  by  emissaries  of  a  certain  nation,  and  that 
Vermont  is  in  the  association.  How  it  will  end,  God  only  knows  ;  the 
present  prospects  are,  no  doubt,  extremely  alarming. 

The  Massachusetts  delegation  have  been  much  more  friendly,  I  have 
understood,  since  the  late  insurrection  in  their  state.  They  look  upon 
the  federal  assistance  as  a  matter  of  the  greatest  importance  ;  of  course, 
they  wish  for  a  continuance  of  the  confederation.  Their  general  court 
is  now  sitting,  but,  I  believe,  are  fearful  of  taking  any  vigorous  steps 
against  the  insurgents. 

Mr.  King  sets  out  from  this  next  week  to  meet  the  New  York  and 
the  other  of  the  J\lassachusetts  commissioners,  to  effect  a  compromise 
respecting  the  latter  against  the  former.  It  seems  they  have  got  un- 
limited powers  on  both  sides.  I  remain,  with  great  sincerity,  your 
affectionate  friend,  etc. 

George  Wythe  to  Jefferson,  Williamsburg,  IS  Dec,  1786.  Ex. 
I  think  him  'sensible  and  discreet,  and  in  a  fair  way  of  being  learned 
— to  which  one  great  encouragement,  both  of  him  and  many  others  of 
our  youth,  is  the  specimen  of  its  utility  which  they  admire  in  one  of 
their  countrymen  in  another  quarter  of  the  globe.  His  Notes  on  Vir- 
ginia, whatever  he  writes,  says,  or  thinks,  is  eagerly  sought  after,  and 
this  not  by  youth  alone.  His  sentiments  are  most  earnestly  desired 
on  the  grand  subject  of  the  enclosed  act  by  the  oldest  (except  one)  of 
the  commissioners  appointed  by  it,  who  supposes  that  he  cannot  be 
directed  so  well  by  any  other  luminary.  You  must  have  advanced 
money  for  me.  Let  me  know  the  amount,  and  whether,  by  a  draft  on 
a  merchant  in  London,  or  in  what  other  manner  I  shall  discharge  it. 
On  these  terras  (but  not  else)  I  wish  you  to  send  to  me  Polybius  and 
Vitruvius.     Adieu. 

Monroe  to  Madison,  Spring  Hill,  16  Dec,  1786.     Ex. 
Have  you  heard  anything  from  the  other  states  ?    Do  they  take  cor- 
respondent measures  with  our  legislature  upon  federal  subjects  ? 

'  Peter  Carr,  the  orphan  nephew  of  Jefferson. 


406  APPENDIX. 


Edward  Carrington  to  Madison,  Neio  York,  IS  Dec,  1786.     Ex. 

The  re-election  of  Colonel  Lee  has  afforded  me  the  highest  pleasure, 
as  it  undoubtedly  relieves  his  feelings,  but  I  am  at  the  same  time 
deeply  affected  by  the  loss  of  Mr.  Jones  from  the  delegation. 

I  cannot  learn  that  Mr.  Jay  is  proceeding  in  the  business  of  the 
Mississippi.  He  probably  will  wait  to  see  the  counteuance  of  the  new 
congress.  If  he  can  assure  himself  of  the  cover  of  a  bare  majority,  I 
believe  he  will  make  the  treaty,  and  rely  upon  the  timidity  of  some  of 
the  dissenting  states  for  the  ratification.  It  is  probable  the  eastern 
column  will  be  broken  in  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  and  it  is  equally 
so  that  there  will  be  a  change  in  some  of  the  southern  states. 

The  business  of  the  convention  is  well  brought  forward  by  Vir- 
ginia, and  I  hope  their  act  will  be  generally  adopted.  The  dereliction 
of  Massachusetts  is,  however,  to  be  apprehended.  The  delegation  of 
that  state  prevented  the  recommendation  of  the  measure  from  con- 
gress, as  suggested  by  the  deputations  at  Annapolis,  and  advised  its 
non-adoption  in  their  legislature.  The  effect  of  this  advice  I  have  not 
been  informed  of,  but  the  natural  supposition  is  that  nothing  was  done 
in  tlie  late  session,  and  there  will  not  be  another  before  the  time  pro- 
posed for  the  convention  of  the  deputies.  The  reasons  given  by  these 
gentlemen  for  their  opj^osition  are  that  the  mode  of  amending  the  con- 
federation is  provided  by  the  act  itself.  Amendments  are  to  origi- 
nate with  congress  and  be  agreed  to  by  the  states,  and  that  it  would 
derogate  from  the  dignity  and  weight  of  that  body  to  take  a  second- 
ary position  in  the  business.  This  is  an  elevated  idea,  and  in  an  effi- 
cient sovereignty  would  be  a  wise  one.  The  truth  is,  we  have  not  a 
government  to  wield  and  correct,  but  must  pursue  the  most  certain 
means  for  obtaining  one.     We  have  only  four  states  now  on  the  floor. 

D.  Stuart  to  Washington,  10  Dec,  17SG.  Ex. 
Dp:ar  Sir  :  I  need  not,  I  suppose,  inform  you  of  your  being  ap- 
pointed to  the  convention  to  be  held  at  Pliiladeli)hia.  It  appeared  to 
be  so  much  the  wish  of  the  house,  tliat  ]\[r.  Madison  conceived  it 
might  probably  frustrate  the  whole  scheme  if  it  was  not  done.  As  it 
was,  however,  intimated  that,  from  many  circumstances  in  your  situa- 
tion, it  might  be  impossible  for  you  to  attend,  yon  will  have  a  fair 
opening  for  an  excuse,  if  at  the  time  you  should  still  think  it  incon- 
venient, or  incompatible  with  what  has  happened  respecting  the  soci- 


LETTERS    AND    PAPERS. 


407 


ety  of  the  Cincinnati.  The  original  imperfection  of  the  federal  union, 
and  its  present  tottering  state,  may  perhaps  at  that  time  present  them- 
selves in  such  a  point  of  view  as  to  supersede  every  objection.  I  am, 
dear  sir,  with  great  respect,  your  affectionate,  humble  servant,  etc. 

George  Wythe  to  Jefferson,  Williamsburg,  22  Dec,  178G. 
Lest  a  letter  which  a  few  days  ago  I  wrote  to  you  should  not  come 
to  your  hands,  I  now  write  this  to  entreat  that  you  will  let  us  have 
your  thoughts  on  the  confederation  of  the  American  states,  which  is 
proposed  to  be  revised  in  the  summer  following.  I  mentioned  in  that 
letter  that  Peter  Carr  was  attending  the  professors  of  natural  and 
moral  philosophy  and  mathematics,  learning  the  French  and  Spanish 
languages,  and  with  me  reading  Herodotus,  iEschylus,  Cicero,  and 
Horace,  and  that  I  wished  to  know  if  you  approved  the  course,  or 
would  recommend  any  other.     Farewell. 

D.  Stuart  to  Washingtoti,  25  Dec,  1786.     Ex. 
I  have  no  doubt  but  Mr.  Madison's  virtues  and  abilities  make  it 
necessary  that  he  should  be  in  congress,  but  from  what  I  already  fore- 
see I  shall  dread  the  consequences  of  another  assembly  without  him. 

From  Montlily  Reports  to  the  British  Government^  5  Jan.,  1787.  Ex. 
The  following  account  has  been  taken  from  the  custom-house  books 
of  the  three  undermentioned  states  of  all  foreign  vessels  cleared,  viz., 
from  the  twenty-first  November,  1785,  to  the  twenty-third  November, 
1786: 


British  vessels. 

French  vessels. 

Spanish  vessels. 

Dutch  vessels. 

Danish  vessels. 

Imperial  vessels. 

No. 

Tonnage. 

No. 

Tonnage. 

No. 

Tonnage. 

No. 

Tonnage. 

No. 

Toimage. 

No. 

Tonnage. 

Philadelpliia . . . 

New  York 

South  Carolina . 

94 

81 

172 

12,432    13 

9,347    20 

17,163    14 

1,122 

2,218 
1,984 

37 
8 

37 

851 
781 

1,251 

7 
6 
5 

923 
1,874 
1,419 

3 

4 
4 

1,037 
857 
913 

2 

2 

327 

387 

Total 

347 

38,942   47 

5,324 

82 

2,883 

18 

4,216 

11 

2,807 

4       714 

Great  Britain  has  nearly  eight  times  as  much  trade  with  the  above 
ports  as  France. 

Washington  to  Jabez  Boicen,  9  Jan.,  1787.     Ex. 
I  have  been  long  since  fully  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  granting 
to  congress  more  ample  and  extensive  powers  than  they  at  present 


408  APPENDIX. 

possess  ;  the  want  of  power  and  energy  in  that  body  has  been  severely 
felt  in  every  part  of  the  United  States.  The  disturbances  in  New 
England,  the  declining  state  of  our  commerce,  and  the  general  languor 
which  seems  to  pervade  the  union,  are  in  a  great  measure  (if  not  en- 
tirely) owing  to  the  want  of  proj)er  authority  in  the  supreme  counciL 
The  extreme  jealousy  that  is  observed  in  vesting  congress  with  ade- 
quate powers  has  a  tendency  rather  to  destroy  than  confirm  our  liber- 
ties. The  wisest  resolutions  cannot  produce  any  good  unless  they  are 
supported  with  energy  ;  they  are  only  applauded,  but  never  followed. 

Paper  money  has  had  the  effect  in  your  state  that  it  ever  will  have, 
to  ruin  commerce,  oppress  the  honest,  and  open  a  door  to  every  spe- 
cies of  fraud  and  injustice. 

The  death  of  our  worthy  friend,  General  Greene,  must  be  sincerely 
regretted  by  every  friend  to  America,  and  peculiarly  by  those  whose 
intimacy  with  him  gave  them  a  full  knowledge  of  his  virtues  and 
merits. 

Lord  Dorchester  to  Lord  Sydney  {secret),  Quebec,  16  Jan.,  1787. 

My  Lord  :  The  military  preparations  in  the  United  States,  with  the 
measures  taken  to  form  magazines  along  the  frontier  of  Virginia,  and 
as  far  as  to  Saratoga,  their  leading  men  say,  are  intended  to  reduce 
the  Indians.  Probably  the  disorders  in  the  Massachusetts,  and  neigh- 
boring states,  are  another  object  of  these  arrangements.  I  at  the  same 
time  cannot  but  aj^prehend  the  uj)per  posts  are  also  comprised  in  their 
plan  for  the  campaign  ;  the  measure  would  be  popular  among  them. 

The  weak  situation  of  these  posts — more  particularly  Fort  Ontario, 
near  Oswego — seems  to  invite  an  insult ;  the  strongest  of  them  de- 
pend on  the  savages  for  protection,  and  these,  having  neither  national 
bands  nor  subordination  of  any  sort,  cannot  have  that  firmness  neces- 
sary for  great  confidence. 

Should  this  apparent  storm  blow  over  without  injury,  and  the  wis- 
dom of  his  Majesty's  council  determine  to  maintain  these  posts,  a  con- 
siderable expense  must  be  incurred  to  put  the  works  in  a  proper  state 
of  defence  ;  and  a  considerable  reinforcement  should  be  sent  up,  which 
will  not  only  increase  the  transport,  but  add  to  the  expense  also.  Fort 
Ontario,  in  this  juncture,  in  place  of  the  present  garrison  of  fifty  men, 
should  have  a  battalion,  to  enable  them  to  hold  out  till  succor  might 
an-ive  to  tlicm  from  tlio  province  ;  and  these  succors  must,  in  a  great 
measure  if  not  wholly,  be  drawn  from  the  militia,  when  it  is  so  arranged 


LETTEES    AND    PAPERS.  409 

as  to  enable  us  to  employ  it.  Should  it  be  determined  to  surrender 
these  posts,  the  states  will  immediately  become  masters  of  forts,  strong 
enough  against  Indians,  with  a  communication  tolerably  secure,  which 
will  greatly  facilitate  the  reduction  of  that  people  and  draw  on  us 
many  reproaches  ;  at  the  same  time  we  shall  lose  great  part  of  the  fur 
trade,  and  open  a  door  for  much  smuggling. 

Should  it  be  judged  advisable  to  retire,  and  destroy  or  suffer  the 
forts  to  be  destroyed,  the  disadvantages  would  thereby  be  greatly 
retarded. 

The  most  injudicious  of  all  is  a  no  resolution  ;  remaining  in  an  im- 
potent state,  and  yet  holding  those  places  in  defiance  of  powerful  neigh- 
bors, who  have  set  their  hearts  upon  them,  and  who,  sooner  or  later, 
will  certainly  assault  them  if  left  in  their  present  situation. 

I  must,  therefore,  request  your  lordship  will,  as  soon  as  possible, 
honor  me  with  the  king's  commands  on  these  points,  and  what  his  Maj- 
esty's pleasure  may  be,  should  the  upper  posts  be  attacked  and  carried. 

D.  Humphreys  to  'Washington^  JSfeio  Haven,  20  Jan.,  17S7.     Ex. 

I  have  lately  had  an  oi^portunity  of  conversing  with  several  of  the 
first  characters  from  the  neighboring  states.  These  gentlemen — viz., 
Messrs.  Duane,  Chancellor  Livingston,  Egbert  Benson,  Judges  Yates, 
Haring,  and  Smith,  from  New  York,  with  Messrs.  Lowell,  King,  Parsons, 
and  Judge  Sullivan,  from  Boston — were  commissioners  for  settling  the 
boundaries  between  the  two  states.  They  seemed  to  be  all  of  opinion 
that  something  must  be  done,  but  what  that  something  was  appeared 
to  baffle  their  deepest  penetration.  It  is,  however,  woi'thy  of  remark 
that  Mr.  King,  Mr.  Sedgwick,  and  several  others  (I  believe  I  might 
say  John  Jay),  who  have  been  mortally  opposed  to  the  Cincinnati, 
now  look  with  considerable  confidence  to  that  quarter  for  our  political 
preservation. 

Mr.  Trumbull,  Mr.  Barlow,  and  myself  have  written  a  good  number 
of  pieces  in  prose  and  verse  on  political  subjects  ;  we  have  the  satisfac- 
tion to  find  that  they  are  reprinted  in  more  papers  and  read  with  more 
avidity  than  any  other  performances.  Pointed  ridicule  is  found  to  be 
of  more  efficacy  than  serious  argumentation. 

T.  Stone  to  Washington,  30  Jan.,  1787. 
Dear  Sir  :  The  senate  and  house  of  delegates  of  Maryland,  having 
differed  upon  the  subject  of  issuing  paper  money  on  loan,  and  the  lat- 


410  APPENDIX. 

ter  having  appealed  to  the  people,  I  take  the  liberty  of  enclosing  you 
the  papers  of  each  house,  and,  if  not  disagreeable,  I  shall  be  much 
obliged  by  a  communication  of  your  sentiments  upon  a  subject  which 
is  likely  to  create  great  and  perhaps  dangerous  divisions  in  the  state, 
and  am,  with  perfect  esteem,  etc. 

Address  qft/ie  Maryland  Senate  to  the  House, 

An  act  of  the  commonwealth  of  Virginia,  for  appointing  deputies  to 
meet  at  Philadelphia  in  May  next,  for  revising  the  federal  government 
and  correcting  its  defects,  was  early  communicated  to  this  legislature. 
In  consequence  thei'eof,  your  house  proposed  to  appoint  deputies,  which 
we  acceded  to,  and  a  confei'ence  took  place  to  ascertain  the  powers  to 
be  given  to  the  deputies.  A  report  was  made  by  the  conferrees,  which 
has  been  agreed  to  by  the  senate. 

As  this  proposition  originated  with  you,  and  the  measure  is  confess- 
edly necessary  and  important,  we  are  not  a  little  surprised  that  you 
have  resolved  to  adjourn  without  making  this  appointment.  Although 
it  may  be  urged  that  this  deputation  may  be  made  at  the  session  jDro- 
posed  by  your  house  to  be  held  in  March  next,  time  enough  for  the 
deputies  to  meet  at  Philadelphia  in  May,  yet  it  must  be  obvious  that 
the  other  states,  perceiving  that  the  legislature  of  this  state  has  ad- 
journed without  making  the  appointment,  may  conclude  that  the  meas- 
ure has  not  met  their  approbation.  This  inference  may  create  suspi- 
cions destructive  of  that  unanimity  which  is  admitted  by  the  wisest 
and  best  men  in  the  United  States  to  be  absolutely  necessary  to  pre- 
serve the  federal  union. 

The  neighboring  states  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania  have  discovered 
their  sense  of  the  importance  of  this  meeting,  and  their  expectation  of 
its  effects,  by  appointing  some  of  their  first  characters  to  assist  in  the 
deliberations. 

We  cannot  account  for  your  postponing  the  consideration  of  these 
great  and  interesting  subjects,  and  your  adjournment  to  the  twentieth 
of  March,  unless  it  be  to  a])pcal  to  the  people  upon  the  bill  for  an 
emission  of  paper  money,  which  we  rejected. 

Otto  to  Vergennes,  JSTew  York,  10  Feb.,  1787.     Ex. 
Tlie  new  congress  was  formed  but  a  few  days  since,  and  proceeded 
at  once  to  the  election  of  a  president.     The  choice  was  very  difficult ; 
the  southern  party  wished  a  member  from  Carolina  or  Georgia  to  be 


LETTEES    AND    PAPEKS.  411 

cliosen,  while  that  of  the  north  insisted  on  the  election  of  a  delegate 
from  New  Hampshire.  The  votes  finally  united  in  favor  of  Mr.  (Sin- 
clair) St.  Clair,  delegate  from  Pennsylvania,  a  former  major-general, 
known  by  his  defeat  at  Ticonderoga.  He  is  ingenuous,  upright,  and 
federal,  and  is  sincerely  attached  to  us,  as  are  all  those  who  fought  in 
the  war  along  with  the  command  of  the  Count  de  Rochambeau.  He 
is  a  friend  of  Franklin,  which  is  sufficient  evidence  to  us  of  his  disposi- 
tions toward  France  ;  furthermore,  I  have  the  advantage  of  being  in 
particularly  close  relations  with  him. 

But  if  foreign  affairs,  my  lord,  are  subject  to  delays  innumerable,  it 
must  not  be  inferred  that  congress  has  been  entirely  idle  since  the 
peace. 

The  various  dej^artments  have  been  arranged  in  the  most  perfect 
manner  ;  a  regular  system  has  been  introduced  into  all  the  branches 
of  the  general  administration,  and,  but  for  the  want  of  permanent 
revenues,  the  United  States  would  be  one  of  the  best  organized  of 
governments.  The  department  of  foreign  affairs,  of  war,  of  finances, 
are  in  the  hands  of  trusty  and  capable  men,  whose  integrity,  wisdom, 
and  circumspection  will  stand  every  test.  Secrecy  is  much  better  ob- 
served than  during  the  w^ar.  It  is  especially  noticeable  that  the  dif- 
ferent branches  of  the  department  of  finances  check  each  other  so 
ingeniously  that  the  slightest  malversation  is  impossible.  But  this 
fine  structure  is,  unfortunately,  useless  on  account  of  the  exhaustion  of 
the  treasury. 

I  cannot  instance  a  better  proof  of  the  integrity  of  the  public  offi- 
cers than  in  observing  that  General  "Washington,  who  began  the  war 
with  quite  a  large  fortune,  and  who  has  had  so  many  legitimate  ways 
of  inci'easing  it,  finds  himself  so  much  in  arrears  that  he  is  obliged 
himself  to  cultivate  his  farm.  I  have  before  me  a  letter  of  this  hon- 
ored man  in  which  he  complains  of  being  obliged  to  sell,  at  a  rate  of 
twenty  for  one,  the  certificates  (les  contrats)  which  congress  sent  to 
him  in  payment  for  the  arrearages  due  him. 

Mr.  Jefferson  is  for  us  in  Virginia  what  Franklin  has  always  been  in 
Pennsylvania — that  is,  the  most  indefatigable  panegyrist  of  France. 
The  delegates  from  that  state  treat  me  with  the  greatest  confidence, 
and  they  are  at  pains  to  inform  me  of  all  the  measures  which  may 
directly  or  indirectly  interest  the  subjects  of  his  Majesty  or  our 
national  importance. 

It  is  chiefly  by  his  private  correspondence  that  Mr.  Jefferson  en- 


412  APPEXDLS:. 

deavors  to  preserve  in  America  the  sentiments  of  gratitude  which 
many  of  his  colleagues  in  Europe  have  taken  so  great  pains  to  suppress. 
I  am  sure  that  recognition  of  his  services  which  you  may  show  to  him 
will  jDroduce  the  best  effect,  and  that  he  will  not  fail  to  communicate 
it  to  his  constituents.  All  the  measures  taken  in  France  in  favor  of 
Am.erican  commerce  have  an  immediate  influence  on  the  minds  of  the 
legislatures,  and  every  sacrifice  on  our  part  is  at  once  reciprocated  by 
a  comjpensation. 

'Washington  to  3L's.  Mary  'Washington,  15  Feb.,  1787.     Ex. 

HoNOEED  Mada^i  :  I  have  now  demands  upon  me  for  more  than 
five  hundred  pounds,  three  hundred  and  forty  odd  of  which  are  due 
for  the  tax  of  1786  ;  and  I  know  not  where,  or  when,  I  shall  receive 
one  shilling  with  which  to  pay  it.  In  the  last  two  years  I  made  no 
crops.  In  the  first  I  was  obliged  to  buy  corn,  and  this  year  have  none 
to  sell,  and  my  wheat  is  so  bad  I  can  neither  eat  it  myself  nor  sell  it  to 
others,  and  tobacco  I  make  none.  Those  who  owe  me  money  cannot 
or  will  not  pay  it  without  suits,  and  to  sue  is  like  doing  nothing,  whilst 
my  expenses,  not  from  any  extravagance,  or  an  inclination  on  my  part 
to  live  splendidly,  but  for  the  absolute  support  of  my  family  and  the 
visitors  who  are  constantly  here,  are  exceedingly  high — higher,  indeed, 
than  I  can  support  without  selling  part  of  ray  estate,  which  I  abi  dis- 
posed to  do  rather  then  run  in  debt  or  continue  to  be  so  ;  but  this  I 
cannot  do  without  taking  much  less  than  the  lands  I  have  offered  for 
sale  are  worth.     This  is  really  and  truly  my  situation. 

Mrs.  Washington,  George,  and  Fanny  join  me  in  every  good  wish 
for  you,  and  I  am,  honored  madam,  your  most  dutiful  and  affectionate 
son,  G.  Washington. 

Oito  to  J^crgenncs,  N'eio  YorJc,  16  Feb.,  1787. 
My  Lord  :  By  a  table  of  the  navigation  of  the  state  of  New  York 
it  appears  that  tlie  English  vessels  arriving  during  the  past  year  amount 
to  sixty-seven,  while  only  seven  have  come  from  France.  This  great 
disproportion  is  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  the  English  do  not  admit 
to  their  islands  any  American  ships,  and  that  they  themselves  carry  on 
the  commerce  in  live  stock  and  lumber  which  the  United  States  furnish 
to  tlieir  Antilles. 

It  is  nevertheless  true  that  Great  Britain  maintains  direct  commer- 
cial relations,  and,  to  a  large  extent,  with  America. 


LETTERS    AND    PAPEES.  413 

Combining,  my  lord,  tbe  language  of  Sir  John  Temple  with  all  that 
daily  passes  before  my  eyes,  I  cannot  refrain  from  the  belief  that  the 
English  ministry  shows  itself  so  tenacious  with  regard  to  the  commerce 
of  their  islands,  and  maintains  its  navigation  act  so  strictly,  only  that 
it  may  at  some  time  secure  for  itself  a  favorable  treaty  with  the 
United  States.  This  time  will  come  when  congress  shall  have  received 
by  an  unanimous  vote  the  power  of  regulating  commerce.  The  more 
closely  England  shall  have  adhered  to  its  exclusive  system,  the  more  it 
will  be  able  to  take  advantage  of  the  sacrifices  which  it  shall  make  and 
be  more  urgent  in  regard  to  compensation  for  them.  The  revolutions 
which  are  occurring  daily  in  the  commercial  policy  of  Europe  are  a 
proof  to  us  of  the  possibility  of  such  an  event. 

The  commerce  of  the  United  States  is  of  too  great  importance  for 
England  to  neglect  the  means  of  gaining  almost  exclusive  control  of 
it.  By  conceding  to  the  United  States,  all  at  once,  the  right  of  fur- 
nishing breadstuffs  to  its  Antilles,  and  to  export  sugar,  a  necessary 
article  of  consumption  in  these  states,  she  will  be  able  to  place  a  very 
high  price  on  a  sacrifice  which  will  be  the  more  sensibly  felt,  since  it 
will  be  sudden  and  unexpected.  Extraordinary  favors  will  be  the 
natural  result  of  this,  and  the  allies  of  the  United  States  cannot  com- 
plain, since  these  favors  will  not  have  been  gratuitous,  and,  consequently, 
will  not  extend  to  the  nations  who  have  concluded  commercial  treaties 
with  the  United  States. 

England  cannot  be  ignorant  that  her  act  of  navigation  is  at  this 
moment  very  unfavorable  to  the  Antilles.  Her  colonies  are  seldom 
supplied  with  provisions,  while  ours  have  in  abundance  all  that  is 
necessary  for  their  subsistence,  and  furnish  very  often  to  the  English 
the  surplus  of  their  cattle  and  commodities.  However,  that  power, 
far  from  relaxing  the  execution  of  her  prohibitory  laws,  excludes  all 
American  ships  from  her  ports  more  strictly  than  ever.  The  numerous 
petitions  of  the  planters  are  not  even  taken  into  consideration  by  par- 
liament, which  seems  to  fear  to  grant  gratuitously  to  the  United  States 
advantages  which  it  will  be  able  to  sell  to  them  at  a  very  high  price 
when  the  American  government  shall  have  the  strength  necessary  for 
forming  and  executing  resolutions  favorable  to  English  commerce. 
The  forts  on  the  lakes,  although  formally  ceded  by  the  treaty  of  peace, 
will  be  another  compensation  for  the  benefits  which  congress  will  grant 
to  English  commerce,  and  these  tv>^o  baits  will  render  the  negotiations 
of  England  very  easy  in  America. 


414  APPEISTDIX. 

The  recent  arrangements  made  in  France  in  regard  to  the  trade  in  to- 
bacco have  given  the  greatest  satisfaction  here.  Rice  becomes  hence- 
forth the  most  important  object  of  our  commercial  negotiations,  not  only 
because  it  is  largely  consumed  in  France,  but  because  Carolina  offers  a 
large  market  for  our  finer  goods  as  well  as  for  the  most  common  wool- 
len stuffs  for  the  negroes.  This  object,  however,  would  depend  in  great 
part  on  our  present  position  with  regard  to  the  seaports  of  the  Levant. 

Lord  Dorchester  to  Lord  S>/d)iey,  Quebec,  28  Feb.,  1787.     Ex. 

My  Lord  :  The  grand  council  of  Lidians  held  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Detroit  river  have  sent  to  the  United  States  and  desired  that  all  hos- 
tilities may  cease,  that  deputies  from  each  side  may  meet  in  spring  to 
make  a  peace,  and  settle  a  reasonable  boundary  line,  and  that  in  the 
mean  time  they  would  prevent  their  surveyors  and  people  from  cross- 
ing the  Ohio. 

This  business  despatched,  they  held  a  second  council  at  Detroit,  the 
object  of  which  was  to  desire  I  would  inform  them  what  assistance 
they  might  expect  from  us  should  the  states  refuse  them  a  reasonable 
peace.  My  letter  to  the  superintendent  of  Indians  will  show  your 
lordship  what  I  had  already  said  on  this  subject,  and  to  this  I  shall 
refer  them.  It  has  been  intimated  proposals  have  been  made  to  con- 
gress for  the  surprisal  of  the  Fort  of  Niagara.  This  is  scarcely  possi- 
ble, but  with  the  assistance  of  the  Indians  of  that  neighborhood,  or 
after  their  departure,  for  which  I  understand  the  six  nations  are  pre- 
paring with  intentions  to  join  the  Mohawks  at  Grand  river  on  the 
north  side  of  Lake  Erie. 

This  situation  of  affairs  renders  it  necessary  to  arrange  the  militia 
so  that  regular  corps  may  be  speedily  formed  therefrom,  agreeable  to 
the  plan  I  had  the  honor  to  present  to  your  lordship,  I  think  it  was  in 
April  last.  Should  I  succeed,  it  will  equally  strengthen  the  interests  of 
this  country  and  of  Great  Britain  ;  if  not,  our  tenure  here  is  very  pre- 
carious. I  can  have  no  doubt  of  the  passing  of  a  bill  for  this  purpose, 
nor  of  the  good  intentions  of  the  legislative  council,  though  I  am 
sorry  to  say  there  is  not  tliat  harmony  among  them  I  could  wish  ;  this 
I  think  of  little  consequence,  l)ut  a  people  so  disused  to  military  ser- 
vices for  twenty-seven  years  do  not  Avillingly  take  up  tlie  firelock  and 
march  to  the  frontier  when  their  passions  are  not  strongly  agitated. 

P.  S. — Mr.  Shays,  who  headed  the  ]\rassachusetts  insurgents,  arrived 
in  this  province  the  twenty-fourth  instant  with  four  of  his  officers. 


LETTEES   AND    PAPEES.  415 


Otto  to  Yerrjennes,  JVeio  YorJc,  5  March,  1787.     Ex. 

The  situation  of  congress  with  respect  to  the  treaty  with  Spain  be- 
comes more  embarrassing  from  day  to  day.  The  inhabitants  of  Ken- 
tucky and  of  Frankland  do  not  merely  insist  on  the  free  navigation  of 
the  Mississippi,  but  they  threaten  to  commit  hostile  acts  against  the 
inhabitants  of  Louisiana  unless  Spain  renounces  its  exclusive  system. 
Quite  recently  they  stopped  two  Spanish  vessels  carrying  on  a  trade 
with  Fort  St.  Vincent,  on  the  Wabash.  "  If  the  Spaniards,"  they  say, 
"  will  not  permit  us  to  descend  the  river,  we,  in  turn,  will  prevent 
them  from  ascending  it." 

They  propose  to  arm  ten  thousand  men,  and  to  make  a  way  for 
themselves  across  to  the  colony  of  Santa  Fe. 

Some  delegates  of  New  England  begin  to  declare  themselves  for  the 
opening  of  the  Mississippi.  "  Although  we  are  persuaded,"  one  of  the 
most  moderate  among  them  said  to  me,  "  that  the  regions  of  the  west 
will  by  degrees  absorb  our  population,  a  greater  evil — the  fear  that 
those  vast  countries  will  yield  to  England  in  order  to  obtain  from  her  the 
protection  which  we  refuse  them — leads  us  to  wish  for  the  free  naviga- 
tion of  the  Mississippi  as  the  only  means  of  keeping  them  subject  to  the 
laws  of  congress." 

Monthly  Report  to  the  T>rithh  Government. 
P.  A.,  eighth  March,  1787,  writes  that  he  has  a  "  mercantile  "  mem- 
ber of  congress  with  him,  whose  expenses  exceed  his  income,  who  would 
enter  into  "  business  "  relations  with  the  British  "  house  "  on  a  "  liberal 
plan."  Instructions  must  be  particular,  in  order  "  that  the  goods  may  be 
packed  up  in  as  small  a  compass  as  possible."  P.  A.,  fifth  April,  1787, 
writes  that  the  member  of  congress  is  ready  to  send  "  such  samples  as 
lays  within  the  line  of  his  business,  every  packet  to  be  directed  to  such 
person  as  shall  be  named  in  England,  neither  the  contents  nor  the  packet 
am  I  to  be  trusted  with,  he  taking  on  himself  to  send  them,  as  my 
detaining  one  letter  would  forever  put  it  in  my  power  to  ruin  him." 
This  M.  C.  is  a  delegate  from  his  state  to  the  convention  at  Phila- 
delphia for  forming  a  new  federal  union,  and  P.  A.  thinks  he  will 
be  of  more  service  than  "  half  a  dozen  Temples  or  Bonds  ;  the  first 
thinks  the  post  beneath  him  since  his  being  a  baronet,  and  the  other 
knows  not  anything  of  the  mercantile  line  ;  he  has  been,  ever  since 
his    arrival    here,    endeavoring,  by  the  assistance  of    his  friends,   to 


416  APPENDIX. 

get  his  attainder  removed  by  the  interest  of  that  old  rascal  Frank- 
lin." 

E.  Randolph  to  Washington,  Michinond,  2  April,  17S7. 

Dear  Sir  :  Your  favor  of  the  twenty-seventh  ult.  was  handed  to  me 
this  moment.  Solicitous  as  I  am  for  your  aid  at  Philadelphia,  I  could 
not  prevail  upon  myself  to  wish  you  to  go,  unless  your  health  would 
fully  permit.  But,  indeed,  my  dear  sir,  everything^  travels  so  fast  to 
confusion  that  I  trust  one  grand  effort  will  be  made  by  the  friends  of 
the  United  States. 

There  is  a  decided  prospect  of  a  representation,  and  the  board  have 
peremptorily  determined  not  to  fill  up  another  vacancy.  The  mem- 
bers now  in  nomination  are,  Mr.  Madison,  Mr.  Mason,  Mr.  Wythe,  Mr. 
Blair,  Mr.  R.  H.  Lee,  and  myself. 

You  will  oblige  me  by  saying  how  I  shall  forward  the  money  to  be 
advanced  from  the  treasury. 

You  recollect  that  congress  have  altered  the  day  of  meeting  to  the 
fourteenth  of  May,  at  which  time  it  is  my  purpose  to  take  you  by  the 
hand.     I  am,  dear  sir,  your  affectionate  friend,  etc. 

Temple  to  the  Marquis  of  Carmarthen,  New  YorTx,  5  April,  1787.  Ex. 
My  Lord  :  At  present  the  general  attention  is  chiefly  turned  to 
what  will  be  done  next  month  at  Philadelphia  by  a  convention  of  the 
thirteen  states,  who  meet  then  for  the  purpose  of  altering  or  revising 
the  confederation.  Various  are  the  opinions  about  this  same  conven- 
tion. Many  think  there  will  be  great  discord,  and  the  convention 
break  up  Avithout  doing  anything,  and  in  consequence  thereof  two  or 
three  separate  congresses  for  the  government  of  these  states  be  estab- 
lished. 

Sydney  to  Lord  Dorchester,  Whitehall,  5  April,  1787.  Ex. 
My  Lord  :  To  afford  the  Indians  active  assistance  would  at  the 
present  moment  be  a  measure  extremely  imprudent,  but  at  the  same 
time  it  would  not  become  us  to  refuse  them  such  supplies  of  ammuni- 
tion as  might  enable  them  to  defend  themselves,  I  observe  by  Colonel 
lirant's  letter  that  they  are  in  great  want  of  that  article,  and,  circum- 
stanced as  they  now  are,  there  cannot  be  any  objection  to  your  furnish- 
ing them  with  a  su])j)ly,  causing  it  to  be  done  in  a  way  the  least  likely 
to  alarm  the  Americans,  or  to  induce  the  Indians  to  think  that  there  is 
a  disposition  on  our  part  to  incite  them  to  any  hostile  proceedings. 


LETTERS   AND    PAPEES.  417 


David  Ramsay  to  Jefferson^  7  Ajyril,  1787.  Ex. 
Our  governments  in  the  soutliern  states  are  much  more  quiet  than 
in  the  northern,  but  much  of  our  quiet  arises  from  the  temj^orizing  of 
the  legislature  in  refusing  legal  protection  to  the  jbrosecution  of  the 
just  rights  of  the  creditors.  Our  eyes  now  are  all  fixed  on  the  con- 
tinental convention  to  be  held  in  Philadelphia  in  May  next.  Unless 
they  make  an  efficient  federal  government,  I  fear  that  the  end  of  the 
matter  will  be  an  American  monarchy,  or  rather  three  or  more  con- 
federacies. In  either  case  we  have  not  labored  in  vain  in  effecting  the 
late  revolution,  for  such  arrangements  might  be  made  as  would  secure 
our  happiness. 

Humphreys  to  'VTasldngton^  Fairfield,  9  April,  1787.     Ex. 

If  the  difference  of  opinion  among  the  members  of  this  national 
assembly  should  be  as  great  as  the  variety  of  sentiments  concerning 
the  result^  the  progress  of  business  before  it  will  be  attended  with 
infinite  embarrassment.  Besides  the  two  primary  objects  of  discus- 
sion, viz.  :  1st,  Whether  the  old  constitution  can  be  supported,  or,  2d, 
Whether  a  new  one  must  be  established,  I  expect  a  serious  proposal 
will  be  made  for  dividing  the  continent  into  two  or  three  separate  gov- 
ernments. Local  politics  and  diversity  of  interests  will  undoubtedly 
find  their  way  into  the  convention.  Nor  need  it  be  a  matter  of  sur- 
prise to  find  there,  as  subjects  of  infinite  disagreement,  the  whole 
western  country  as  well  as  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi. 

Should  you  think  proper  to  attend,  you  will  indisputably  be  elected 
president.  This  would  give  the  measures  a  degree  of  national  conse- 
quence in  Eui'ope  and  with  posterity.  But  how  far  (under  some 
supposable  case)  your  personal  influence,  unattended  with  other  au- 
thority, may  compose  the  jarring  interests  of  a  great  number  of 
discordant  individuals  and  control  events,  I  will  not  take  upon  me 
to  determine. 

Otto  to  Vergennes,  New  yorh,  10  Ajn'il,  1787.  Ex, 
If  all  the  delegates  chosen  to  this  convention  at  Philadelphia  are 
present,  Europe  will  never  have  seen  an  assembly  more  respectable  for 
talents,  for  knowledge,  for  the  disinterestedness  and  patriotism  of 
those  who  compose  it.  Genei'al  Washington,  Dr.  Franklin,  and  a 
great  number  of  other  distinguished  personages,  though  less  known  in 
VOL.  II.  27 


•418  APPENDIX. 

Europe,  have  been  called  thither.     Xo  doubt  the  interests  of  the  eon- 
federation  M'ill  be  more  thoroughly  discussed  than  ever  before. 

J3.  Gale  to  W.  S.  Jolmson^  Killing loorth,  19  April,  1787.  Ex. 
HoN".  AND  Deak  Sir  :  Your  opposition  to  the  convention  has  done 
you  great  honor  among  republicans,  and  could  you  adopt  this  senti- 
ment honestly,  that  all  lands  ceded  by  treaty  and  all  forfeited  estates 
were  ceded  and  forfeited  to  the  whole  confederacy,  and  make  a  rea- 
sonable proposal  for  the  rendering  civil  process  more  concise  and  less 
expensive,  it  would  render  your  country  eminent  service,  etc.,  etc. 

It.  JR.  Livingston  to  Lafayette,  Kexo  Yorlc,  21^.  x\pril,  1787.     Ex. 

The  population  of  New  York  in  the  last  twelve  years,  notwithstand- 
ing the  numbers  desti'oyed  by  the  war  and  the  still  greater  numbers 
that  have  left  us,  has  increased  40,000  souls,  exclusive  of  Vermont, 
which,  if  taken  into  the  calculation,  would  carry  our  numbers  from 
190,000,  which  was  its  greatest  extent  before  the  war,  to  280,000,  as 
appears  by  our  last  census.  Few  traces  remain  in  the  country  of  the 
ravages  of  war  :  lands  are  cultivated,  houses  built,  new  lands  cleared, 
new  sources  of  commerce  opened,  and  what  is  the  best  criterion  of  the 
state  of  trade  is  that  the  commodities  and  labor  of  the  country  still 
bear  a  better  price  than  they  did  before  the  war. 

Washington  to  Major-  General  Knox,  27  Ajyril,  1787.  Ex. 
Though  so  much  afflicted  with  a  rheumatic  complaint  (of  which  I 
have  not  been  entirely  free  for  six  months)  as  to  be  under  the  neces- 
sity of  carrying  my  arm  in  a  sling  for  the  last  ten  days,  I  had  fixed  on 
Monday  next  for  my  departure,  and  had  made  every  necessary  arrange- 
ment for  the  purpose,  when  (within  this  hour)  I  am  called  by  an 
express,  who  assures  me  not  a  moment  is  to  be  lost,  to  see  a  mother 
and  only  sister  (who  are  supposed  to  be  in  the  agonies  of  death)  ex- 
pire ;  and  I  am  hastening  to  obey  this  melancholy  call,  after  having 
just  buried  a  brother  Mdio  was  the  intimate  companion  of  my  youth, 
and  the  friend  of  my  ripened  age. 

Grayson  to  Monroe,  New  Yorl;  30  April,  1787.     Ex. 
Dkati  Sin  :  AlTairs  go  on  here  very  slowly  ;  Mr.  Jay  has  reported 
to  congress  that  he  and  Gardoqui  liave  adjusted  an  article  in  which 
the  navigation  of  a  certain  river  is  given  up  ;  that  Mr.  Gardoqui  has 


LETTERS    AXD    PAPERS.  419 

wrote  for  instructions  respecting  the  limits  ;  the  English  of  the  mat- 
ter is  that  Rendon  has  gone  to  Spain  on  this  business,  and,  if  that 
court  gives  up  the  limits,  I  have  no  doubt  but  the  design  is  to  conclude 
the  treaty  immediately. 

The  convention  are  to  meet  soon,  but  am  satisfied  will  effect  nothing  ; 
or,  if  they  do,  that  the  states  will  not  confirm.  The  insurgents  of 
Massachusetts  have  got  full  possession  of  the  government  constitu- 
tionally ;  they  talk  of  a  depreciating  paper  and  other  villainous  acts, 
and  I  have  no  doubt  but  they  will  be  precisely  in  the  situation  of 
Rhode  Island  without  delay.  Congress  have  agreed  to  sell  the  town- 
ships that  have  been  surveyed  at  this  place.  We  have  made  an  unsuc- 
cessful attempt  at  indiscriminate  locations  ;  a  treaty  with  Morocco  is 
concluded  ;  the  Count  de  Vergennes  dead  ;  a  close  alliance  talked  of 
between  the  king  of  Prussia  and  the  emperor  ;  Vermont  and  Great 
Britain  upon  close  and  secret  terms. 

You  may  rely  upon  me  in  any  instance  where  I  can  serve  you,  and 
the  opportunity  of  doing  this  will  always  give  me  real  happiness. 

Consider  this  letter  as  confidential. 

William  Short  to  Madison,  Paris,  7  May,  1787.     Ex. 

Dear  Sir  :  The  Marquis  de  Lafayette  exerts  every  nerve  to  pre- 
vent the  present  unfavorable  ideas  from  increasing,  and  he  is  re- 
proached every  day  with  the  want  of  faith,  if  not  the  bankruptcy 
of  America.  Their  want  of  money  makes  them  feel  too  sensibly 
at  present  our  want  of  punctuality.  It  is  in  vain  that  the  Marquis 
tells  them  they  ought  not  to  be  surprised  at  the  deranged  finances  of 
a  young  country,  just  rising  from  the  devastations  of  war,  since  so  old 
a  government  as  France,  and  that  in  time  of  peace,  should  find  itself 
in  its  pi'esent  situation.  Arguments  like  this,  sir,  are  of  little  avail 
except  with  a  few  thinking  men,  and  will  not  be  able  to  counteract 
the  ill  effects  of  the  clamors  of  those  foreign  officers  dispersed  in 
every  part  of  the  kingdom,  who  served  in  America,  and  who  think 
themselves  ruined  by  congress  because  the  interest  of  their  pay  is  not 
furnished  them — nor  of  the  murmurs  of  the  treasury  here  because 
they  have  not  received  the  annual  interest,  and  a  part  of  the  principal 
of  the  American  debt. 

These  are  the  opinions  of  our  federal  circumstances — but  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  states  taken  individually  make  a  very  different  im- 
pression, and  of  no  state  more  than  Virginia.     It  is  but  just  to  men- 


420  APPENDIX. 

tion  it  to  you,  sir,  who  have  contributed  so  much,  by  your  exertions  in 
the  legislature,  to  the  fame  she  has  acquired  in  every  part  of  Europe, 
even  in  England,  where  all  ranks  of  people,  from  the  crown  to  the 
shopkeeper,  may  be  considered  as  in  a  state  of  war  with  whatever  is 
American.  The  act  respecting  Kentucky,  that  on  religion,  and  the 
almost  unanimous  refusal  either  to  emit  a  paper  currency  or  meddle 
with  the  certificates  of  public  credit,  have  acquired  our  state,  sir,  a 
degree  of  eclat  and  of  honor  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  form  an  idea. 

liochcnnbeau  to  JVashlngton,  Paris,  12  May,  17S7. 

My  dear  General  :  It  is  dreadful  to  live  so  far  that  we  do  from 
one  another.  I  receive  but  in  this  moment  the  letter  wherewith  you 
have  honored  me  on  the  thirty-first  July  ultimate,  that  you  put  aboard 
of  an  English  ship,  which  after  he  had  made  its  trade  has  at  last  sent 
it  to  Havre  this  last  days.  But  whatever  was  the  cause  of  the  tardy 
news  I  receive  from  you,  I  am  always  charmed  to  see  that  my  dear 
general  and  my  good  friend  is  enjoying  of  his  glorious  and  philosoph- 
ical retreat,  where  he  has  known  fixed  his  glory  and  his  happiness. 

AVe  are  here  in  a  terrible  crisis  of  finances,  which  has  occasioned 
an  assembly  of  chief  men  that  last  yet.  You  heard  speak  of  the 
ministry  of  M.  Necker,  and  of  the  flourishing  state  where  he  had  left 
our  finances.  A  devil  of  fool,  named  Calonne,  minister  of  finances 
since  four  years,  has  believed  to  be  bound  to  take  contrary  sense  of 
his  predecessor,  and  has  made  succeed  to  an  economical  administration, 
a  prodigality  and  a  devastation  which  has  no  example  ;  being  at  the 
end  of  last  j-ear  without  means,  he  has  imagined  an  assembly  of  chief 
men,  in  which  discovering,  in  his  quality  of  quack,  a  part  of  the 
wound,  he  did  propose  all  the  remedies  of  an  empiric.  The  assembly 
of  chief  men  at  last  has  unmasked  him  to  our  virtuous  king,  that  he 
had  the  skill  to  deceive  as  well  as  a  part  of  his  council.  He  has  been 
lately  dismissed,  and  his  office  is  given  to  the  Archbishop  de  Toulouse, 
the  knowledge,  probity,  order,  and  talents  of  w^hich  give  the  greatest 
hopes  to  the  nation.  You  know  enough  my  character  to  think  that  it 
wuuld  not  sympathize  with  that  of  M.  de  Calonne,  and  consequently 
he  did  not  put  me  in  that  assembly,  that  I  have  been  very  glad  of. 
He  had  also  forgot  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette.  I  should  have  desired 
ho  had  taken  the  same  course,  but  his  ardor  did  not  permit  him  to  be 
quiet.  We  are  still  in  the  middle  of  this  crisis  which  tends  to  its  end, 
but  to  comfort  us  of  this  misfortune,  I  will  tell  you  a  word  of  the 


LETTEES    AISTD    PAPERS.  421 

late  king  of  Prussia,  -svhicli  said  to  the  Count  d'Esterno,  our  minister  : 
"  I  have  been  brought  up  in  the  middle  of  the  unhappiness  of  France  ; 
my  cradle  was  surrounded  with  refugees  Protestants,  that  about  the 
end  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  regency 
of  the  Due  d'Orleans,  told  me  that  the  France  was  at  the  agony,  and 
could  not  exist  three  years.  I  known  in  the  course  of  my  reign  that 
the  France  has  such  a  temper,  that  there  is  no  bad  minister,  nor  bad 
generals  which  be  able  to  kill  it,  and  that  constitution  has  made  rise  it 
again  of  all  its  crisis  with  strength  and  vigor.  It  want  no  other  rem- 
edy but  time  and  keep  a  strict  course  of  diet."  It  is  to  the  Arch- 
bishop de  Toulouse  to  make  use  of  this  two  means  under  a  king  born 
virtuous  and  without  passions. 

I  have  been  very  sorry,  my  dear  general,  of  the  General  Green's 
death.  I  knew  him  by  reputation  and  correspondence,  and  I  loved 
very  much  all  his  relations.  My  consolation,  my  dear  general,  is  that 
with  sobriety  and  philosophy  you  live  under  a  pure  sky  and  in  good 
air,  and  that  Mount  Yernon  will  conserve  a  long  time  to  the  America 
its  heroes  and  my  friend. 

My  respects  to  Mad.  Washington,  to  all  your  family,  and  to  all  my 
anciente  camarades  and  friends. 

George  Mason  to  George  Mason,  Jr.,  Philadelplda,  20  May,  1787. 

Ex. 

Dear  George  :  Upon  our  arrival  here  on  Thursday  evening,  seven- 
teenth May,  I  found  only  the  states  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania  fully 
represented  ;  and  there  are  at  this  time  only  five — Kew  Yorkj  the  two 
Carolinas,  and  the  two  before  mentioned.  All  the  states,  Rhode 
Island  excepted,  have  made  their  appointments  ;  but  the  members 
drop  in  slowly  ;  some  of  the  deputies  from  the  eastern  states  are  here, 
but  none  of  them  have  yet  a  sufficient  representation,  and  it  will 
probably  be  several  days  before  the  convention  will  be  authorized  to 
proceed  to  business.  The  expectations  and  hopes  of  all  the  union 
centre  in  this  convention.  God  grant  that  we  may  be  able  to  concert 
effectual  means  of  preserving  our  country  from  the  evils  which 
threaten  us. 

The  Virginia  deputies  (who  are  all  here)  meet  and  confer  together 
two  or  three  hours  every  day,  in  order  to  form  a  proper  correspondence 
of  sentiments  ;  and  for  form's  sake,  to  see  what  new  deputies  are  ar- 
rived, and  to  grow  into  some  acquaintance  with  each  other,  we  regu- 


422  APPENDIX. 

larly  meet  every  day  at  three  o'clock  p,  m.  at  the  state-house.  These 
and  some  occasional  conversations  with  the  deputies  of  different 
states,  and  with  some  of  the  general  officers  of  the  late  army  (who 
are  here  upon  a  general  meeting  of  the  Cincinnati),  are  the  only  op- 
portunities I  have  hitherto  had  of  forming  any  ojDiuion  upon  the  great 
subject  of  our  mission,  and,  consequently,  a  very  imperfect  and 'inde- 
cisive one.  Yet,  upon  the  great  principles  of  it,  I  have  reason  to  hope 
there  will  be  greater  unanimity  and  less  02:)position,  except  from  the 
little  states,  than  was  at  first  apprehended.  The  most  prevalent  idea 
in  the  principal  states  seems  to  be  a  total  alteration  of  the  present 
federal  system,  and  substituting  a  great  national  council  or  ijarliament, 
consisting  of  tAvo  branches  of  the  legislature,  founded  upon  the  prin- 
ciples of  equal  proportionate  reiDresentation,  with  full  legislative  pow- 
ers upon  all  the  objects  of  the  union  ;  and  an  executive  :  and  to  make 
the  several  state  legislatures  subordinate  to  the  national,  by  giving  the 
latter  the  power  of  a  negative  upon  all  such  laws  as  tbey  shall  judge 
contrary  to  the  interest  of  the  federal  union.  It  is  easy  to  foresee  that 
there  will  be  much  difficulty  in  organizing  a  government  upon  this 
great  scale,  and  at  the  same  time  reserving  to  the  state  legislatures  a 
sufficient  portion  of  power  for  j^romoting  and  securing  the  prosperity 
and  happiness  of  their  respective  citizens  ;  yet,  with  a  proper  degree 
of  coolness,  liberality,  and  candor  (very  rare  commodities  by  the  bye), 
I  doubt  not  but  it  may  be  effected.  There  are  among  a  variety  some 
very  eccentric  opinions  ujion  this  great  subject ;  and  what  is  a  very 
extraordinary  phenomenon,  ^\'e  are  likely  to  find  the  republicans,  on 
this  occasion,  issue  from  the  southern  and  middle  states,  and  the  anti- 
republicans  from  the  eastern  ;  however  extraordinary  this  may  at  first 
seem,  it  may,  I  think,  be  accounted  for  from  a  very  common  and  nat- 
ural impulse  of  the  human  mind.  Men  disappointed  in  expectations 
too  hastily  and  sanguinely  formed,  tired  and  disgusted  with  the  un- 
expected evils  they  have  experienced,  and  anxious  to  remove  them 
as  far  as  possible,  are  very  apt  to  run  into  the  opposite  extreme  ; 
and  the  people  of  the  eastern  states,  setting  out  with  more  republi- 
can principles,  have  consequently  been  more  disappointed  than  we 
have  been. 

We  found  travelling  very  expensive — from  eight  to  nine  dollars  per 
day.  In  this  city  the  living  is  cheap.  We  are  at  the  old  Indian 
Queen  in  Fourth  street,  where  we  are  very  well' accommodated,  have 
a  good  room  to  oui'selves,  and  are  charged  only  twenty-iive  Penn- 


LETTEES    AND   PAPEES.  423 

sylvania  currency  per  day,  including  our  servants  and  horses,  exclu- 
sive of  club  iu  liquors  and  extra  charges  ;  so  that  I  hope  I  shall  be 
able  to  defray  my  expenses  with  my  public  allowance,  and  more  than 
that  I  do  not  wish. 

Knox  to  President  Sullivan,  Philadelphia,  21  May,  1787. 

Mt  dear  Sir  :  As  an  old  friend,  a  number  of  gentlemen,  members 
of  the  convention,  have  pressed  me  to  Avrite  to  you,  soliciting  that  you 
urge  the  departure  of  the  delegates  from  New  Hampshii-e. 

Impressed  most  fully  with  the  belief  that  we  are  yerging  fast  to 
anarcby,  and  that  the  present  convention  is  the  only  means  of  avoid- 
ing the  most  flao-itious  evils  that  ever  afflicted  three  millions  of  free- 
men,  I  have  cheerfully  consented  to  their  request ;  and  beg  leave  to 
have  recourse  to  your  kind  friendship  for  an  excuse,  if  any  is  neces- 
sary. There  are  here  a  number  of  the  most  respectable  characters 
from  several  states,  among  whom  is  our  illustrious  friend  General 
"Washington,  who  is  extremely  anxious  on  the  subject  of  the  Kew 
Hampshire  delegates.  A  number  of  states  sufficient  for  organization, 
and  to  commence  business,  will  assemble  this  week.  If  the  delegates 
come  on,  all  the  states,  excepting  Rhode  Island,  will  be  shortly  repre- 
sented. Endeavor,  then,  my  dear  sir,  to  push  this  matter  with  all  our 
powers.  I  am  persuaded,  from  the  present  complexion  of  opinions, 
that  the  issue  will  prove  that  you  have  highly  served  your  country  in 
promoting  the  measure. 

Grayson  to  3Iadison,  JVeio  York,  2Jf.  May,  1787. 
Dear  Sir  :  Some  particular  gentlemen  have  offered  to  join  us  in 
getting  Georgetown  fixed  as  the  capital  of  the  federal  empire  ;  they 
say  they  will  vote  money  for  the  buildings,  and  in  every  respect  make 
the  compact  as  irrevocable  as  the  nature  of  the  case  will  admit  of,  pro- 
vided we  will  agree  to  stay  here  a  reasonable  time,  until  everything  is 
made  proper  for  their  reception.  I  am  not  certain  when  all  the  east- 
ern states  come  forward,  but  some  good  may  come  out  of  this,  pro- 
vided we  act  with  delicacy  and  caution.  Most  of  the  foreigners  who 
come  among  us  say  the  sessions  of  congress  should  be  fixed  by  national 
compact ;  I  think  they  are  right  iu  their  reasoning  with  respect  to  all 
such  governments  as  ours.  The  arguments  are  too  obvious  to  be  men- 
tioned to  you.  We  have  a  right  to  it  at  Georgetown,  and  ought  in 
justice  to  get  it. 


424  APPENDIX. 


Grayson  to  Monroe,  Keio  TorJc,  29  May,  1787.     Ex. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  hardly  think  the  convention  will  be  dissolved  these 
three  months.  What  will  be  the  result  of  their  meeting  I  cannot  with 
any  certainty  determine,  but  I  hardly  think  much  good  can  come  of  it ; 
the  people  of  America  don't  appear  to  me  to  be  ripe  for  any  great  in- 
novations, and  it  seems  they  are  ultimately  to  ratify  or  reject.  The 
weight  of  General  Washington,  as  you  justly  observe,  is  very  great  in 
America,  but  I  hardly  think  it  is  sufficient  to  induce  the  people  to  pay 
money  or  part  with  power. 

I  shall  make  no  obsei'vations  on  the  southern  states,  but  I  think  they 
will  be  (perhaps  from  different  motives)  as  little  disposed  to  part  with 
efficient  power  as  any  in  the  union. 

From  Monthly  Reports  to  the  British  Oovernment,  June,  1787.  Ex. 
My  opinion  is,  your  interest  consists  in  disuniting  them,  and  that 
they  do  not  agree  to  fulfil  the  preliminai'ies  of  peace,  or  fully  to  enter 
into  a  commercial  negotiation  ;  for,  by  those  means,  you  secure  to 
yourselves  the  whole  of  the  fur  trade,  and  keep  the  peoj^le  of  the  six 
northern  states  in  a  continual  ferment.  You  may  depend,  your  party 
gains  ground  daily,  and,  should  there  ever  be  a  war  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  I  can  assure  you  that,  where  you  had  one 
friend  the  last  war,  you  would  find  three  now,  for  the  people  at  large 
liave  been  deceived,  cheated,  and  ruined  by  congress  ;  the  individual 
states  have  tenfold  taxes  to  joay  ;  and  nine  tenths  of  their  commerce 
deprived  them  which  they  enjoyed  before  the  rebellion.  Nor  should 
I  be  surprised  that,  in  the  space  of  few  years,  we  should  send  you 
deputies,  to  take  us  on  the  same  footing  as  Ireland,  a  glorious  transac- 
tion to  be  performed  by  your  house. 

George  3Tason  to  George  Mason,  Jr.,  Philadelphia,  IJime,  1787.  Ex. 
The  idea  I  formerly  mentioned  to  you,  before  the  convention  met, 
of  a  great  national  council,  consisting  of  two  branches  of  the  leg- 
islature, a  judiciary,  and  an  executive  (upon  the  principles  of  fair 
representation  in  tlie  legislature),  with  powers  adapted  to  the  great 
objects  of  the  union,  and  consequently  a  control,  in  those  instances, 
on  the  state  legislatures,  is  still  the  prevalent  one.  Virginia  has  had 
the  honor  of  presenting  the  outlines  of  the  plan  upon  Avhich  the  con- 
veuiiun  is  j)rocecding,  but  so  slowly  that  it  is  impossible  to  judge  when 


LETTERS  AND  PAPEE9.  425 

the  business  will  be  finished  ;  most  probably  not  before  August. 
Festina  lente  may  very  well  be  called  our  motto.  When  I  first  came 
here,  judging  from  casual  conversations  with  gentlemen  from  the  dif- 
ferent states,  I  was  very  apprehensive  that,  soured  and  disgusted  with 
the  unexpected  evils  we  had  experienced  from  the  democratic  princi- 
ples of  our  governments,  we  should  be  apt  to  run  into  the  opposite 
extreme,  and  in  endeavoring  to  steer  too  far  from  Scylla,  we  might  be 
drawn  into  the  vortex  of  Charybdis,  of  which  I  still  think  there  is 
some  danger,  though  I  have  the  pleasure  to  find,  in  the  convention, 
many  men  of  firm  republican  principles.  America  has  certainly  upon 
this  occasion  drawn  forth  her  first  characters  ;  there  are  upon  this  con- 
vention many  gentlemen  of  the  most  respectable  abilities,  and,  so  far 
as  I  can  yet  discover,  of  the  purest  intentions  ;  the  eyes  of  the  United 
States  are  turned  uj^on  this  assembly,  and  their  expectations  raised  to 
a  very  anxious  degree.  May  God  grant  we  may  be  able  to  gratify 
them  by  establishing  a  wise  and  just  government.  For  my  own  part, 
I  never  before  felt  myself  in  such  a  situation,  and  declare  I  would  not, 
upon  pecuniary  motives,  serve  in  this  convention  for  a  thousand  pounds 
per  day.  The  revolt  from  Great  Britain,  and  the  formations  of  our, 
new  governments  at  that  time,  were  nothing  compared  with  the  great 
business  now  before  us.  There  was  then  a  certain  degree  of  enthu- 
siasm which  inspired  and  supported  the  mind  ;  but,  to  view  through 
the  calm,  sedate  medium  of  reason,  the  influence  which  the  establish- 
ments now  proposed  may  have  upon  the  hapi:»iness  or  misery  of  mill- 
ions yet  unborn,  is  an  object  of  such  magnitude  as  absorbs,  and  in  a 
manner  suspends,  the  operation  of  the  human  understanding. 

P.  S. — All  communications  of  the  proceedings  are  forbidden  during 
the  sitting  of  the  convention  ;  this,  I  think,  was  a  necessary  precaution 
to  prevent  misrepresentation,  or  mistakes,  there  being  a  material  dif- 
ference between  the  appearance  of  a  subject  in  its  first  crude  and  indi- 
gested shape,  and  after  it  shall  have  been  properly  matured  and  ar- 
ranged. 

Temple  to  Carmarthen,  New  Yorh,  7  June,  11  SI.  Ex. 
My  Lord  :  Delegates  for  eleven  of  these  states  are  now  sitting 
(with  General  Washington  for  their  president)  in  convention  at  Phila- 
delphia. Their  principal  object  is  to  form  a  federal  establishment 
that  shall  answer  for  the  government  of  this  now  distracted  and  un- 
happy country,  either  by  a  revision  of  the  present  articles  of  coufed- 


426  APPENDIX 

eration,  or  by  adopting  others  entirely  new.  So  many  different  senti- 
ments and  clashing  interests  will  i^robably  meet  in  contact  upon  the 
occasion,  that  great  doubts  are  justly  entertained  whether  any  meas- 
ures will  be  unanimously  adopted  by  the  convention  ;  or,  if  that  should 
happen,  Avhether  all  the  states  will  ratify  and  abide  by  what  the  dele- 
gates may  determine  upon.  The  little  state  of  Rhode  Island  hath 
already  gone  so  retrograde  to  the  articles  of  confederation,  and  to  the 
subsequent  orders  and  doings  of  congress,  and  having  not  thought 
proper  to  send  delegates  to  the  convention,  it  is  already  seriously 
talked  of,  the  annihilating  of  Rhode  Island  as  a  state,  and  to  divide 
that  territory  (I  mean  the  government  of  it)  between  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut.  The  delegates  in  convention  are  at  present  acting 
under  the  most  solemn  injunctions  of  secrecy,  so  that  it  is  not  yet  in 
my  power  to  mention  what  progress  they  have  made.  "Whenever  it 
may  be  in  my  power,  I  shall  have  the  honor  of  communicating  it  to 
your  lordship. 

Since  the  date  of  my  last  letter,  three  ships  have  arrived  from  Can- 
ton— one  at  Philadelphia,  one  at  Salem,  and  the  other  here — loaded 
with  the  produce  and  manufactures  of  the  East,  and  several  more  ships 
are  expected  ;  their  cargoes  sell  at  a  very  low  price  for  specie,  which 
is  daily  becoming  scarcer  in  these  states. 

E.  Carr'ington  to  Jefferson,  JVeto  YorJc,  9  June,  17 87.     Ex. 

The  proposed  scheme  of  a  convention  has  taken  more  general  effect, 
and  promises  more  solid  advantages  than  was  at  first  hoped  for. 

The  commissions  of  these  gentlemen  go  to  a  thorough  refonii  of  our 
confederation  ;  some  of  the  states  at  first  restricted  their  deputies  to 
commercial  objects,  but  have  since  liberated  them.  The  latitude  thus 
given,  together  with  the  generality  of  the  commission  from  the  states, 
have  doubtless  operated  to  bring  General  Washington  forward.  In 
every  public  act  he  hazards  without  a  possibility  of  gaining  reputa- 
tion ;  he  already  possesses  everything  to  be  derived  from  the  love  or 
confidence  of  a  free  people,  yet  it  seems  that  it  remained  for  himself 
to  add  a  lustre  to  his  character  by  this  patriotic  adventure  of  all  for 
his  country's  good  alone. 

The  importance  of  this  event  is  every  day  growing  in  the  public 
mind,  and  it  will,  in  all  probabilities,  produce  a  happy  era  in  our 
political  existence.  Taking  a  view  of  the  circumstances  which  have 
occasioned  our  calamities,  and  the  present  state  of  things  and  opinions, 


LETTERS    AND    PAPERS.  427 

I  am  flattered  with  this  prospect.  Public  events  in  the  United  States 
since  the  peace  have  given  a  cast  to  the  American  character  which  is 
by  no  means  its  true  countenance.  Delinquencies  of  the  states  in  their 
federal  obligations,  acts  of  their  legislatures  violating  public  treaties 
and  private  contracts,  and  an  universal  imbecility  in  the  public  admin- 
istrations, it  is  true,  form  the  great  features  of  our  political  conduct  ; 
but  these  have  resulted  rather  from  constitutional  defects  and  acci- 
dental causes  than  the  natural  dispositions  of  the  people. 

The  nefarious  acts  of  state  governments  have  proceeded  not  from 
the  will  of  the  people  ;  peace  once  obtained,  men  whose  abilities  and 
integrity  had  gained  the  entire  popular  confidence  retired  from  the 
busy  scene  ;  mere  adventurers  in  fraud  were  left  to  act  unopposed. 
Hence  have  proceeded  paper  money,  breaches  of  treaty,  etc.  The  duc- 
tility of  the  multitude  is  fully  evidenced  in  the  case  of  the  late  tumults 
in  Massachusetts.  Men  who  were  of  good  property,  and  owed  not  a 
shilling,  were  involved  in  the  train  of  desperadoes  to  suppress  the 
courts.  A  full  representation  of  the  public  affairs  from  the  general 
court,  through  the  clergy,  has  reclaimed  so  great  a  proportion  of  the 
deluded  that  a  rebellion,  which  a  few  months  ago  threatened  the  sub- 
version of  the  government,  is,  by  measures  scarcely  deserving  the  name 
of  exertion,  suppressed.  In  this  experiment  it  is  proved  that  full  intel- 
ligence of  the  public  affairs  not  only  would  keep  the  people  right,  but 
will  set  them  so  after  they  have  got  wrong. 

Civil  liberty,  in  my  opinion,  never  before  took  up  her  residence  in 
a  country  so  likely  to  afford  her  a  long  and  grateful  protection  as  the 
United  States.  A  people  more  generally  enlightened  than  any  other 
under  the  sun,  and  in  the  habit  of  owning  instead  of  being  mere  ten- 
ants in  the  soil,  must  be  proportionably  alive  to  her  sacred  rights  and 
qualified  to  guard  them  ;  and  I  am  persuaded  that  the  time  is  fast  ap- 
proaching when  all  these  advantages  will  have  their  fullest  influence. 
Our  tendency  to  anarchy,  and  consequent  despotism,  is  felt,  and  the 
alarm  is  spreading  ;  men  are  brought  into  action  who  had  consigned 
themselves  to  an  eve  of  rest,  and  the  convention,  as  a  beacon,  is  rous- 
ing the  attention  of  the  empire. 

The  prevailing  impression,  as  well  in  as  out  of  convention,  is  that  a 
federal  government,  adapted  to  the  permanent  circumstances  of  the 
country,  without  respect  to  the  habits  of  the  day,  will  be  formed, 
whose  efficiency  shall  pervade  the  whole  empire  ;  it  may,  and  proba- 
bly will  at  first,  be  viewed  with  hesitation  ;  but,  derived  and  patron- 


428  APPENDIX. 

ized  as  it  will  be,  its  influence  mnst  extend  into  a  general  adoption  as 
tbe  present  fabric  gives  way.  Tbat  tbe  people  are  disposed  to  be  gov- 
erned is  evinced  in  tbeir  turning  out  to  support  tbe  sbadows  under 
wbicb  tbey  now  live,  and,  if  a  work  of  wisdom  is  prepared  for  tbem, 
tbey  will  not  reject  it  to  commit  themselves  to  tbe  dubious  issue  of 
anarcby. 

I  am  certain  that  nothing  less  than  what  will  give  tbe  federal  sov- 
ereignty a  complete  control  over  tbe  state  governments  will  be  thought 
worthy  of  discussion. 

The  ideas  here  suggested  are  far  removed  from  those  which  pre- 
vailed when  you  was  among  us  ;  and  as  tbey  have  arisen  with  the 
most  able  from  an  actual  view  of  events,  it  is  probable  you  may  not 
be  prepared  to  expect  tbem  ;  they  are,  however,  the  most  moderate  of 
any  which  obtain  in  any  general  form  among  reflective  and  intelli- 
gent men. 

E.  Gerry  to  Monroe,  PJiUadelj^hia,  11  June,  1787.  Ex. 
The  convention  is  proceeding  in  tbeir  arduous  undertaking  with 
eleven  states,  under  an  injunction  of  secrecy  on  their  members.  New 
Hampshire  has  elected  members,  who  are  soon  expected.  Tbe  object 
of  this  meeting  is  very  important,  in  my  mind  ;  unless  a  system  of 
government  is  adopted  by  compact,  force,  I  expect,  will  plant  the  stand- 
ard ;  for  such  an  anarch}^  as  now  exists  cannot  last  long.  Gentlemen 
seem  to  be  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  establishing  some  efficient 
system.  I  hope  it  will  secure  us  against  domestic  as  well  as  foreign 
invasion. 

E.  Carrington  to  Madison,  Neio  YorJc,  13  June,  1787.  Ex. 
Had  the  rules  of  the  convention  permitted  communications  from 
thence,  you  would  have  conferred  an  obligation  by  including  me  in 
the  number  of  j'our  correspondents  upon  the  subjects  of  deliberation 
in  that  assembly.  My  curiosity  is,  however,  perfectly  suppressed  by 
the  propriety  of  the  prohibition.  Having  matured  your  opinions  and 
given  them  a  collected  form,  they  will  bo  fairly  presented  to  the  pub- 
lic and  stand  their  own  advocates  ;  but  caught  by  detachments,  and 
while  indeed  immature,  they  would  be  equally  the  victims  of  igno- 
rance and  misrepresentation.  The  public  mind  is  now  on  the  point  of 
a  favorable  turn  to  the  objects  of  your  meeting,  and,  being  fairly  met 
wjtii  the  result,  will,  I  am  persuaded,  eventually  embrace  it.     Being 


LETTERS    AND    PAPERS.  429 

calculated  for  the  permanent  fitness,  and  not  the  momentary  habits  of 
the  country,  it  may  at  first  be  viewed  with  hesitation  ;  but,  derived 
and  patronized  as  it  will  be,  its  influence  must  extend  into  an  adoption 
as  the  present  fabric  gives  way.  The  work  once  well  done  will  be 
done  forever  ;  but,  patched  up  in  accommodation  to  the  whim  of  the 
day,  it  will  soon  require  the  hand  of  the  cobbler  again,  and  in  every 
unfortunate  experiment  the  materials  are  rendered  the  less  fit  for  that 
monument  of  civil  liberty  which  we  wish  to  erect.  Constitute  a  fed- 
eral government,  invigorate  and  check  it  well  ;  give  it  then  indepen- 
dent powers  over  the  trade,  the  revenues,  and  forces  of  the  union,  and 
all  things  that  involve  any  relationship  to  foreign  powers  ;  give  it  also 
the  revisal  of  all  state  acts.  Unless  it  possesses  a  complete  control  over 
the  state  governments,  the  constant  effort  will  be  to  resume  the  dele- 
gated powers  ;  nor  do  I  see  what  inducement  the  federal  sovereignty 
can  have  to  negative  an  innocent  act  of  a  state. 

Constitute  it  in  such  shape  that,  its  first  principles  being  preserved, 
it  will  be  a  good  republic.  I  wish  to  see  that  system  have  a  fair  ex- 
periment. But  let  the  liability  to  encroachments  be  rather  from  the 
federal  than  the  state  governments.  In  the  first  case  we  shall  insensi- 
bly glide  into  a  monarchy  ;  in  the  latter  nothing  but  anarchy  can  be 
the  consequence. 

Some  gentlemen  think  of  a  total  surrender  of  the  state  sovereignties. 
I  see  not  the  necessity  of  that  measure  for  giving  us  national  stability 
or  consequence.  The  negative  of  the  federal  sovereignty  will  effect- 
ually prevent  the  existence  of  any  licentious  or  inconsiderate  act,  and 
I  believe  that  even  under  a  monarchy  it  would  be  found  necessary 
thus  to  continue  the  local  administrations.  General  laws  would  oper- 
ate many  particular  oppressions,  and  a  genei'al  legislature  would  be 
found  incompetent  to  the  formation  of  local  ones.  The  interests  of 
the  United  States  may  be  well  combined  for  the  common  good,  but 
the  affairs  of  so  extensive  a  country  are  not  to  be  thrown  into  one 
mass.  An  attempt  to  confederate  upon  terms  materially  opposed  to 
the  particular  interests  would  in  all  probability  occasion  a  dismember- 
ment, and,  in  that  event,  within  a  long  time  yet  to  come,  the  prospects 
of  Amei'ica  will  be  at  an  end  as  to  any  degree  of  national  importance, 
let  her  fate  be  what  it  may  as  to  freedom  or  vassalage.  Be  good 
enough  to  present  me  to  your  honorable  colleagues,  and  believe  me  to 
be,  with  the  utmost  sincerity,  your  affectionate  friend  and  humble 
servant. 


430  APPEKDIX. 


W?7i.  Sam.  Johnson  to  his  Son,  Philadelphia,  27  June,  1787.     Ex. 

My  Dear  Sox  :  I  am  here  attending  with  Mr.  Shearman  {sic)  and 
Mr.  Elsworth  {sic)  as  delegates,  on  the  part  of  Connecticut,  a  grand 
conA'ention  of  the  United  States,  for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  and 
consolidating  the  union  and  proposing  a  more  efficient  mode  of  gov- 
ernment than  that  contained  in  the  articles  of  confederation.  We 
have  delegates  from  eleven  states  actually  assembled,  consisting  of 
many  of  the  most  able  men  in  America,  with  General  Washington  at 
our  head,  M'hom  we  have  appointed  president  of  the  convention.  It  is 
agreed  that  for  the  present  our  deliberations  shall  be  kept  secret,  so 
that  I  can  only  tell  you  that  much  information  and  eloquence  has  been 
displayed  in  the  introductory  speeches,  and  that  we  have  hitherto  pre- 
served great  temperance,  candor,  and  moderation  in  debate,  and  evinced 
much  solicitude  for  the  public  weal.  Yet,  as  was  to  be  expected,  there 
is  great  diversity  of  sentiment,  which  renders  it  impossible  to  deter- 
mine what  will  be  the  result  of  our  deliberations.  Your  most  affec- 
tionate father  and  friend. 

Lords  of  the  Council  to  Dorchester,  Whitehall,  13  July,  1787.  Ex. 
With  respect  to  any  intercourse  by  land  or  by  inland  navigation 
between  his  Majesty's  province  of  Quebec  and  the  territories  belong- 
ing to  the  United  States  of  America,  the  committee  are  of  opinion 
that  it  should  be  left  to  Lord  Dorchester,  with  the  advice  of  the  legis- 
lative council  of  that  province,  to  make  such  orders  therein  as  he  may 
think  most  proper. 

Nathan  Dane  to  Rufus  King,  New  York,  16  July,  1787. 
Dear  Sir  :  I  am  obliged  to  you  for  yours  of  the  eleventh  instant. 
With  pleasure  I  communicate  to  you  what  we  are  doing  in  congress — 
not  so  much  from  a  consciousness  that  what  we  do  is  well  done  as 
from  a  desire  that  you  may  be  acquainted  with  our  proceedings.  We 
have  been  much  engaged  in  business  for  ten  or  twelve  days  past,  for 
a  part  of  which  we  have  bad  eight  states.  There  appears  to  be  a  dis- 
position to  do  business,  and  the  arrival  of  R.  IT.  Lee  is  of  considerable 
importance.  I  think  his  character  serves,  at  least  in  some  degree,  to 
check  the  effects  of  the  feeble  habits  and  lax  mode  of  tliinking  of  some 
of  his  countrymen.  We  have  been  employed  about  several  objects,  the 
principal  of  which  have  been  the  government  enclosed  and  the  Ohio 


LETTERS    AIS^D    PAPERS.  431 

purchase  ;  the  former,  you  will  see,  is  completed,  and  the  latter  will 
probably  be  completed  to-morrow.  We  tried  one  day  to  patch  up 
M.'s  system  of  W,  government ;  started  new  ideas  and  committed 
the  whole  to  Carrington,  Dane,  R.  H.  Lee,  Smith,  and  Kean.  AVe 
met  several  times,  and  at  last  agreed  on  some  principles  ;  at  least  Lee, 
Smith,  and  myself.  We  found  ourselves  rather  pressed.  The  Ohio 
company  appeared  to  purchase  a  large  tract  of  the  federal  lands — 
about  six  or  seven  millions  of  acres — and  we  wanted  to  abolish  the 
old  system  and  get  a  better  one  for  the  government  of  the  country, 
and  we  finally  found  it  necessary  to  adopt  the  best  system  we  could 
get.  All  agreed  finally  to  the  enclosed  plan  except  A.  Yates.  He 
appeared  in  this  case,  as  in  most  others,  not  to  understand  the  subject 
at  all.  I  think  the  number  of  free  inhabitants — 60,000 — which  are 
requisite  for  the  admission  of  a  new  state  into  the  confederacy  is  too 
small  ;  but,  having  divided  the  whole  territory  into  three  states,  this 
number  appears  to  me  to  be  less  important.  Each  state,  in  the  com- 
mon course  of  things,  must  become  important  soon  after  it  shall  have 
that  number  of  inhabitants.  The  eastern  state  of  the  three  will  prob- 
ably be  the  first  and  more  important  than  the  rest,  and  will  no  doubt 
be  settled  chiefly  by  eastern  people  ;  and  there  is,  I  think,  full  an 
equal  chance  of  its  adopting  eastern  politics.  When  I  drew  the  ordi- 
nance (which  passed,  a  few  words  excepted,  as  I  oi'iginally  formed  it), 
I  had  no  idea  the  states  would  agree  to  the  sixth  article,  prohibiting 
slavery,  as  only  Massachusetts,  of  the  eastern  states,  was  present,  and 
therefore  omitted  it  in  the  draft  ;  but,  finding  the  house  favorably 
disposed  on  this  subject,  after  we  had  completed  the  other  parts  I 
moved  the  article,  which  was  agreed  to  without  opposition.  We  are 
in  a  fair  way  to  fix  the  terms  of  our  Ohio  sale,  etc.  We  have  been 
upon  it  three  days  steadily.  The  magnitude  of  the  purchase  makes 
us  very  cautious  about  the  terms  of  it,  and  the  security  necessary  to 
ensure  the  performance  of  it. 

[The  preceding  extract  vras  communicated  to  the  Xew  York  Tri- 
bune, 31  Jan.,  1855,  by  Charles  King.  Its  authenticity  is  vouched  for 
by  Charles  R.  King,  the  present  custodian  of  the  original.] 

Otto  to  3fontmorin,  New  YorJc,  20  July,  1787.     Ex. 
The  vast  territories  lying  between  the  Ohio,  the  Mississippi,  and 
the  lakes,  begin  to  be  of  great  interest  to  congress, 

A  company  has  just  offered  to  that  body  the  sum  of  five  millions 


432  APPEKDIX. 

of  dollars,  in  loan  certificates,  for  a  like  number  of  acres,  which  is 
considered  a  very  good  bargain  for  the  United  States.  It  is  certain 
that  that  country  contains  enough  land  to  pay  the  whole  domestic 
debt  of  the  United  States. 

Colonel  Harmer,  stationed  on  the  Ohio  with  seven  hundred  regu- 
lars, prevents  adventurers  from  Kentucky  crossing  the  river  to  seize 
the  land,  and  even  the  savages  begin  to  acknowledge  the  sovereignty 
of  the  UniteA  States  since  congress  has  solemnly  announced  that  it 
would  not  dispose  of  an  inch  of  ground  unless  it  had  been  previously 
purchased  of  the  savage  tribes  dwelling  on  it.  The  former  division 
of  that  country  into  ten  states,  which  was  proposed  by  Jefferson,  ap- 
peared very  imperfect,  and  subject  to  great  difficulties. 

Congress  has  just  published  a  new  ordinance,  by  which  all  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  west  between  the  Ohio  and  the  lakes  will  be  included  in  a 
single  government  until  a  large  population  renders  its  division  necessary. 

This  ordinance  contains  very  wise  provisions  in  regard  to  the  man- 
ner of  acquiring  lands,  the  appointment  of  the  governor,  of  the  as- 
sembly, and  of  the  legislative  council,  commerce  and  navigation,  the 
rights  of  the  citizen,  the  formation  of  courts,  and  in  general  all  that 
which  relates  to  the  internal  oi'ganization  of  this  new  colony. 

Here  it  is  established  as  a  fundamental  princijDle  that  every  person 
of  orderly  demeanor  may  reside  in  that  country  without  being  mo- 
lested on  account  of  religion  ;  that  the  inhabitants  shall  always  be  enti- 
tled to  the  privilege  of  habeas  corpus  and  of  trial  by  jury  ;  that  they 
shall  lose  neither  liberty  nor  property  except  by  the  judgment  of  their 
peers  ;  that  no  law  ought  ever  to  be  made  prejudicial  to  private  prop- 
erty (this  provision  has  especial  reference  to  the  grievances  caused  by 
paper  money);  that  it  shall  not  be  allowed  to  take  from  the  savages 
without  their  consent  the  least  portion  of  their  lands  ;  that  no  deceit 
shall  be  employed  in  treating  with  them  ;  that  the  territory  shall  for- 
ever form  a  part  of  the  confederation,  and  shall  pay  its  jiart  of  the 
public  debts  and  other  federal  expenses,  but  shall  be  taxed  only  by  its 
own  legislature,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  states  of  the  union  ;  that, 
when  its  population  shall  allow,  it  shall  be  divided  into  not  more  than 
five  states,  each  one  of  which  shall  have  the  right  of  sending  repre- 
sentatives to  congress  whenever  it  shall  give  evidence  of  containing 
sixty  thousand  inhabitants  ;  finally,  that  slavery  shall  be  forever  pro- 
hibited in  the  said  territory,  except  in  the  case'  of  those  whom  the 
laws  shall  decree  quietly  of  heinous  offences. 


LETTERS    A^B    PAPERS.  433 

Such  is  the  substance  of  an  ordinance  which  determines  the  future 
rights  of  this  territory,  a  great  part  of  which  is  still  unknown.  The 
wisdom  which  dictated  these  various  provisions  is  universally  admired, 
and  congress  will  experience  no  difficulty  in  disposing  by  degrees  of  all 
the  lands  included  in  this  colony. 

Many  delegates  have  come  (to  me)  to  inform  me  that  the  United 
States  earnestly  desired  to  show  their  gratitude  to  the  French  generals 
who  distinguished  themselves  in  America  by  offering  to  them  exten- 
sive possessions  in  this  new  country,  but  they  did  not  know  w^hether 
the  court  would  approve  such  a  step.  I  told  them  that  his  Majesty 
would  probably  receive  with  great  satisfaction  this  new  proof  of  the 
attachment  of  the  United  States.  I  think  that  the  parsimony  of  the 
northern  states  will  forbid  this  plan,  and  that  merely  the  names  of 
Rochambeau,  d'Estaing,  etc.,  will  be  given  to  certain  districts,  as  has 
been  done  in  Pennsylvania  in  order  to  give  to  the  Chev.  de  la  Luzerne 
and  to  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette  public  testimonials  of  esteem  and 
gratitude. 

Memorial  of  the  Ohio  Company/,  21  July,  1787. 

It  is  proposed  by  S.  H.  Parsons,  Rufus  Putnam,  and  M.  Cutler,  for 
themselves  and  associates,  to  purchase  of  the  United  States  the  under- 
mentioned tract  in  the  western  territory  of  the  L^nited  States,  on  the 
following  conditions,  viz.  : 

DESCRIPTIOJSr    OF   THE    TRACT. 

A  certain  tract  of  land  in  the  western  territoiy  of  the  United 
States,  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  western  boundary  of  the  seventh 
Tange  of  townships,  on  the  south  by  the  Ohio  river,  on  the  west  by 
the  river  Scioto,  and  on  the  north  by  a  due  east  and  west  line  run 
from  the  northwest  corner  of  the  south  township  of  the  seventh  range 
[reckoning  from  the  Ohio]  until  it  shall  intersect  the  Scioto. 

CONDITIOTSrS. 

1.  The  price  to  be  three  shillings  and  sixpence,  lawful  money,  or 
one  twelfth  of  a  dollar,  per  acre,  payable  in  any  of  the  securities  of  the 
United  States. 

2.  In  payment  for  the  lands,  no  interest  shall  be  computed  on  the 
certificates  paid  in,  provided  that  indents  of  interest,  signed  by  the 
treasurer  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  given  to  the  purchasers  for  all 
arrearages  of  interest  due  on  the  said  certificates  to  the  date  of  their 

VOL.  n.  28 


434  APPENDIX. 

payment,  whicli  indents  shall  be  receivable  in  all  tbe  general  requisi' 
tions,  in  proportion  assigned  to  the  respective  requisitions,  on  which 
they  may  be  paid  in. 

3.  The  payments  of  the  above  purchase  to  be  made  in  the  follow- 
ing manner,  viz.  : 

The  first  payment  shall  be  within  three  months,  computed  from 
the  date  of  this  agreement,  and  shall  amount  to  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars. 

The  second  payment  shall  be  when  the  survey  of  the  above  tract 
is  made,  and  shall  amount  to  four  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  remainder  shall  be  paid  in  six  equal  instalments,  at  the  exjjira- 
tion  of  every  six  months,  computed  from  the  date  of  the  second  pay- 
ment. 

4.  When  the  first  payment  is  made,  an  instrument  of  writing  shall 
be  delivered  to  the  purchasers,  signed  by  the  president  of  the  United 
States  in  congress,  and  sealed  with  their  seal,  declaring  that  the 
United  States  have  sold  to  S.  P.,  R.  P.,  and  M.  C,  and  their  associates, 
for  and  in  consideration  of  one  dollar  per  acre,  the  tract  of  land  above 
described.  On  which  the  purchasers  shall  execute  another  instrument, 
binding  themselves  and  their  associates  for  the  j^ayment  of  the  above 
purchase,  agreeable  to  the  above  conditions. 

And  it  shall  be  further  declared,  in  the  last  mentioned  instrument, 
that  the  purchasers  shall  not  be  entitled  to  take  possession  of  any  part 
of  the  lands  contained  in  the  above  tract  only  in  the  following  man- 
ner, viz.  :  When  the  first  payment  is  made,  they  shall  have  a  right  to 
take  possession  of  a  certain  tract  of  land  bounded  east  by  the  seventh 
range  of  townships,  on  the  south  by  the  Ohio  river,  on  the  west  by  a 
line  run  due  north  from  the  western  cape  of  the  Great  Kanawha,  so 
far  as  that  from  its  termination  ;  a  line  run  east  to  the  western  boun- 
dary of  the  seventh  range  of  townships  may  comprehend  a  quantity 
adequate  to  the  first  payment.  When  the  second  payment  is  made, 
they  shall  have  a  right  to  take  possession  of  as  great  a  quantity  of 
lands  as  shall  be,  when  added  to  the  aforesaid  quantity,  equal  to  the 
amount  of  one  million  of  dollars  ;  which  lands  sliall  be  bounded  on 
the  east  by  the  western  line  of  the  seventh  range  of  townships,  on 
the  south  by  the  first  location,  on  the  west  by  a  continuation  of  the 
line  from  the  Great  Kanawha,  and  on  the  north  by  an  east  and  west 
line  to  the  western  boundary  of  the  seventh  range  of  townships. 
Military  riglits,  in  ratio  of  one  to  seven,  to  be  admitted  in  the  above* 


LETTEES    AND    PAPEES.  435 

mentioned  possessions  for  tlie  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  late  army 
who  may  be  proprietors  in  the  said  lands,  and  also  two  townships  for 
the  establishment  of  a  literary  institution.  When  the  first  and  second 
instalments  are  completely  paid,  and  not  before,  the  purchasers  shall 
have  a  right  to  take  possession  of  as  great  a  quantity  of  lands  as  the 
several  payments  at  that  time  made  shall  amount  to,  and  this  ratio  of 
equal  payment  and  possession  shall  be  continued  until  the  whole  pay- 
ment and  possession  is  accomplished. 

When  the  first  and  second  payments  are  made,  and  the  first  instal- 
ment completed,  then  the  purchasers  shall  receive  a  federal  deed  for 
the  quantity  of  land  which  shall  be  equal  to  the  purchase  of  one  mill- 
ion of  dollars,  comprehended  within  the  boundaries  above  mentioned  ; 
and  after  this  period  they  shall,  from  time  to  time,  receive  deeds  for 
as  great  a  quantity  of  lands  as  their  several  payments  shall  entitle 
them  to  at  the  price  agreed  on. 

5.  Notwithstanding  the  declaration  of  sale  specified  in  the  first- 
mentioned  instrument,  the  purchasers  and  their  associates  bind  and 
oblige  themselves,  in  case  of  failure  in  the  payments  as  above  men- 
tioned, to  renounce  all  claim  or  pretension  of  right  to  any  lands  for 
which  they  have  not  made  bona  fide  payment  as  before  expressed,  and 
the  said  company  or  individuals  thereof  shall  have  no  kind  of  right 
or  pretence  to  enter  on  or  take  possession  of  any  parts  of  said  tracts, 
of  which  such  failure  is  made,  and  the  said  tracts  shall  be  free  to  be 
sold  by  congress  to  any  person  or  persons  whatever  ;  and  in  case  the 
said  tracts  of  which  such  failure  is  made  be  afterward  exposed  to  sale 
by  congress,  the  present  purchasers  shall  be  liable  to  make  up  the  loss, 
if  any,  which  may  arise  betwixt  the  price  of  the  land  so  sold  and 
what  is  hereby  contracted  for. 

6.  The  purchasers  shall  have  the  right  of  pre-emption  of  three  ad- 
ditional townships  somewhere  northerly  of  the  tract  above  specified, 
at  the  price  agreed  on,  and  to  take  possession  of  the  same  when  the 
payment  thereof  shall  be  duly  made. 

7.  The  aforesaid  purchasers  shall,  at  their  own  expense,  within 
seven  years  from  date  hereof,  lay  off  the  whole  tract  which  they  shall 
purchase  into  townships  and  fractional  parts  of  townships,  and  divide 
the  same  into  lots  according  to  the  land  ordinance,  and  make  complete 
returns  thereof  to  the  board  of  treasury.  Lots  Nos.  8,  11,  and  26,  in 
each  township  and  fractional  part  of  townships,  to  be  reserved  for  the 
future  disposition  of  congress.     Lot  No.  16  to  be  given  perpetually, 


436  APPENDIX. 

by  congress,  to  the  maintenance  of  schools,  and  lot  Ko.  29  to  the 
purposes  of  religion  in  the  said  townships.  Two  townships  near  the 
centre  of  the  second  specified  tract,  which  comprehends  the  purchase 
amounting  to  the  first-mentioned  million  of  dollars,  and  of  good  laud, 
to  be  also  given  by  congress  for  the  support  of  a  literary  institution, 
to  be  applied  to  the  intended  object  by  the  legislature  of  the  state. 

[The  above  is  in  the  handwriting  of  Parsons,  vol.  viii..  No.  xli. 
Memorials  P.  R.     Papers  of  old  cong.  state  dept. 

Endorsed  in  Thomson's  hand.  Proposals  of  S.  H.  Parsons,  21  July, 
1787.] 

JEdw.  Carrington  to  Jas.  Madison,  JVeio  York,  25  July,  1787.  Ex. 
We  are  trying  to  do  something  with  our  western  territory  to  make 
it  useful  to  the  jjurposes  for  which  the  United  States  were  vested  with 
it.  You  have  seen  in  the  papers  the  scheme  for  the  temporary  as  well 
as  perpetual  government  of  it.  A  practical  measure  for  the  sale  of  it,  or 
rather  by  means  of  it,  to  redeem  the  domestic  debt,  remains  still  to  be 
agreed  upon,  and  I  fear  the  difiiculties  which  have  always  stood  in  the 
way  of  this  great  object  are  not  yet  to  be  surmounted.  Colonel  Lee 
joins  Grayson  and  myself  with  great  zeal,  but  what  will  be  the  issue 
of  our  efforts  I  know  not. 

tfay  to  IVashmffton,  25  Jxdy,  1787.  Ex, 
Permit  me  to  hint  whether  it  would  not  be  wise  and  seasonable  to 
provide  a  strong  check  to  the  admission  of  foreigners  into  the  admin- 
istration of  our  national  government,  and  to  declare  expressly  that  the 
command  in  chief  of  the  American  army  shall  not  be  given  to,  nor  de- 
volve on,  any  but  a  natural-born  citizen. 

Carrington  to  3Ionroe,  Kexo  Yorh,  7  Aug.,  1787.  Ex. 
We  have  at  last  made  a  break  into  the  western  lands.  The  Ohio 
company  have  adjusted  with  congress  a  contract  for  four  or  five  mill- 
ions of  acres  in  a  body,  on  the  east  side  of  Scioto,  at  two  thirds  of  a 
dollar  per  acre,  to  lay  it  out  into  townships  agreeably  to  the  land  or- 
dinance, and  leave  three  sections  in  each  township  for  the  future  dis- 
position of  congress.  This  I  hold  a  great  bargain  for  the  U.  S.,  as 
the  land  goes  good  and  bad  together,  and  it  will  be  a  means  of  intro- 
ducing into  the  country,  in  the  first  instance,  a  description  of  men  who 
will  lix  the  character  and  politics  throughout  the  whole  territory,  and 


LETTEES    AND    PAPEES.  ,    437 

which  will  probably  endure  to  the  latest  period  of  time.  This  com- 
pany is  formed  of  the  best  men  in  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts,  and 
they  will  move  out  immediately.  I  am  about  to  join  them  with  a  few 
shares  ;  what  think  you  of  such  an  adventure  ? 

Grayson  to  Monroe,  New  YorJc,  8  Aug.,  1787.  Ex. 
Dear  Sir  :  Since  my  last,  congress  has  passed  the  ordinance  for  the 
government  of  the  western  country  in  a  manner  something  different 
from  the  one  which  you  drew,  though  I  expect  the  departure  is  not  so 
essential  but  that  it  will  meet  your  approbation.  You  will  observe 
that  the  consent  of  Virginia  is  necessary  to  entitle  the  people  to  cer- 
tain rights,  as  also  that  the  former  act  is  repealed  absolutely.  I  am 
satisfied,  therefore,  you  will  do  everything  in  your  power  to  get  the 
state  to  alter  her  act  of  cession  in  such  a  manner  as  will  square  with 
the  ordinance.  It  seems  the  subject  was  not  taken  up  last  year.  The 
clause  respecting  slavery  was  agreed  to  by  the  southern  members  for 
the  purpose  of  preventing  tobacco  and  indigo  from  being  made  on  the 
northwest  side  of  the  Ohio,  as  well  as  for  several  other  political  rea- 
sons. After  this  ordinance  was  passed  in  congress,  the  eastern  Ohio 
company  came  forward,  and  have  agreed  with  congress  for  between 
five  and  six  millions  of  acres  lying  between  the  Scioto  and  the  western 
boundary  of  the  seven  ranges,  and  extending  back  into  the  country 
about  sixty  miles.  On  the  following  terms,  viz.,  one  dollar  per  acre, 
public  securities,  deducting  one  third  of  a  dollar  for  bad  land,  and 
surveying,  etc.,  the  company  to  pay  half  a  million  on  the  signing  the 
contract ;  half  a  million  on  the  line  being  run  by  the  geographer,  and 
the  residue  in  six  half-yearly  instalments  with  interest  in  the  mean 
time  ;  the  company  to  lay  off  the  territory  in  townships  of  six  miles 
square  ;  the  company  to  have  two  sections  for  religion  and  education 
gratis,  also  two  townships  for  the  purposes  of  a  university  on  the  same 
terms  ;  three  sections  in  each  township  to  be  reserved  for  the  future 
disposition  of  congress.  I  understand  this  company  mean  to  settle 
this  country  very  thick  and  without  delay  ;  of  course,  the  adjacent 
lands  will  become  very  valuable  ;  they  send  forward  a  number  of 
families  this  fall  ;  a  reinforcement  in  the  spring,  and  a  very  consider- 
able number  fall  come  twelvemonth  ;  the  funds  of  the  company  were 
only  a  million  when  they  made  the  contract,  since  which  they  have 
increased  in  an  amazing  degree,  so  that  there  is  not  the  least  doubt 
but  they  will  perform  their  part  of  the  contract  in  all  its  parts  j  and 


438  APPENDIX. 

as  tlieir  objects  are  actual  settlement  and  defence,  there  is  every  rea- 
son to  conclude  it  will  be  of  the  greatest  advantage  to  that  country. 
From  the  great  number  of  inhabitants  in  the  eastern  states  and  in  the 
Jerseys,  I  should  not  be  surprised  to  see  them  in  a  very  few  years 
extend  themselves  by  additional  purchases  quite  to  the  Mississippi, 
and  thereby  form  a  complete  barrier  for  our  state,  at  the  same  time 
greatly  validating  the  lands  on  the  Virginia  side  of  the  Ohio. 

A  committee  is  appointed  to  draught  an  ordinance  for  the  sale  of 
the  lands  between  the  Scioto  and  Great  Miami,  on  the  principles  of 
indiscriminate  location  nearly  ;  and  if  the  southern  states  attend,  I  ap- 
prehend it  can  be  carried  ;  this,  however,  will  not  bring  any  large 
quantity  to  market,  as  after  deducting  the  claims  of  the  Virginia  offi- 
cers and  soldiers,  and  the  continental  bounties,  the  residue  will  not  be 
very  considerable. 

Mr.  Adams  has  not  done  anything  at  the  court  of  Great  Britain  ;  he 
has  requested  his  recall  in  very  pointed  terms.  Who  will  be  elected- 
to  succeed  him,  or  whether  congress  will  send  anybody,  is  more  than 
I  can  tell ;  at  present  they  seem  much  divided  on  the  subject.  The 
Mississippi  is  where  you  left  it  ;  i.  e.,  nothing  has  been  done.  Mr. 
Jay  has,  in  one  of  his  late  letters,  decidedly  said  he  would  do  nothing 
more  without  further  discretion  of  congress.  I  therefore  think  we  are 
safe  for  the  present. 

From  the  Cabinet  of  Versailles  to  Otto,  Versailles,  30  Aug.,  1787.   Ex. 

It  appears,  sir,  that  in  all  the  Amei'ican  provinces  there  is  more  or 
less  tendency  toward  democracy  ;  that  in  many  this  exti'cme  form  of 
government  will  finally  prevail. 

The  result  will  be  that  the  confederation  will  have  little  stability, 
and  that  by  degrees  the  different  states  will  subsist  in  a  perfect  inde- 
pendence of  each  other. 

This  revolution  Avill  not  be  regretted  by  us.  TVe  have  never  pre- 
tended to  make  of  America  a  useful  ally  ;  we  have  had  no  other 
object  than  to  deprive  Great  Britain  of  that  vast  continent.  There- 
fore, we  can  regard  with  indifference  both  the  movements  which  agi- 
tate certain  provinces  and  the  fermentation  which  prevails  in  congress. 
Tljis  must  not  hinder  you  from  continuing  to  give  an  account  of  all 
that  shall  take  place  ;  I  can  only  praise  the  accui'acy  which  I  have 
noticed  in  your  despatches, 

I  fear  that  the  discussions  in  regard  to  the  Mississippi  will  become 


LETTEES   Ain>   PAPERS.  439 

serious,  and  that  they  will  become  embarrassing  for  us.  Si:»ain  may 
misapprehend  her  interests,  but  that  does  not  give  the  Americans  the 
right  to  employ  force  against  that  power.  The  mouth  of  the  Missis- 
sippi belongs  to  her  ;  she  has  therefore  the  right  to  open  it  or  keep  it 
closed,  and  the  Americans  can  obtain  special  favors  only  by  means  of 
negotiation.  The  court  of  Madrid  would  not  be  difficult  to  gain  over 
if  it  had  the  same  principles  as  ours  in  this  matter. 

William  Grayson  to  J.  Madison,  New  York,  31  Aug.,  17S7.     Ex. 

Judge  Symms,  of  Jersey,  yesterday  made  an  application  for  all 
that  tract  of  country  lying  between  the  Great  and  Little  Miami,  the 
east  and  west  line,  and  the  Ohio,  supposed  about  two  millions  of  acres, 
on  the  same  terms,  with  the  Eastern  Ohio  company.  His  application 
has  met  with  the  entire  approbation  of  the  members  present,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  but  as  soon  as  there  is  a  congress  that  this  contract 
will  be  closed. 

Sydney  to  Lord  Dorchester,  Whitehall,  H  Sejyt.,  1787.     Ex. 

My  Lord  :  I  have  been  favored  with  your  lordship's  despatches, 
numbered  from  ten  to  twenty-six,  inclusive,  and  I  lost  ho  time  in  lay- 
ing them,  with  their  several  enclosures,  before  the  king.  They  have 
all  undergone  some  consideration,  and  I  shall  make  my  replies,  as  I 
have  been  instructed  to  do,  to  them  in  the  order  in  which  they  stand. 

With  regard  to  the  posts,  to  which  No.  10,  marked  secret,  par- 
ticularly relates,  it  was,  I  believe,  intimated  to  your  lordship,  previous 
to  your  departure,  that  it  was  the  firm  opinion  of  the  king's  servants 
that  the  retaining  the  possession  of  the  posts  was  a  measure  perfectly 
justifiable,  and,  from  the  conduct  observed  since  that  time  on  the  part 
of  the  American  states,  they  have  no  reason  to  alter  their  sentiments 
upon  that  point.  It  therefore  becomes  necessary  that  steps  should  be 
taken  by  putting  them  into  a  temjjorary  state  of  defence,  to  resist  any 
attack  which  the  citizens  of  the  states  may  meditate,  and  the  sooner 
it  can  be  done  the  better.  The  execution  of  a  project  of  this  sort 
must  consequently  be  attended  with  expense,  but  the  king's  servants 
feel  no  difficulty  in  submitting  the  extent  of  the  works  to  be  performed 
to  your  lordship's  judgment  and  discretion,  persuaded,  as  they  are,  that 
your  zeal  for  the  public  welfare  will  induce  you  not  to  suffer  a  charge 
of  any  sort  to  be  incurred  which  is  not  found  to  be  indispensably 
necessary. 


440  APPENDIX. 

This  resolution  naturally  brings  forward  Rome  communications 
from  your  lordship  -wherein  that  subject  is  very  materially  concerned  ; 
I  mean  with  respect  to  the  conduct  to  be  observed  toward  the  Indians, 
and  the  establishment  of  a  militia. 

As  to  the  first,  it  has  all  along  been  the  disposition  of  his  Majesty's 
ministers  to  pay  that  sort  of  attention  to  those  people,  and  that  regard 
to  their  situation  and  necessities,  which  can  with  any  degree  of  reason 
be  expected  by  them.  Under  this  idea  such  suj)plies  have  been  sent 
out,  as  appeared  from  your  lordship's  despatches,  to  be  equal  to  their 
immediate  wants,  and  though,  as  your  lordshijD  must  suppose,  it  is  de- 
sirable upon  many  accounts  that  these  expenses  should  be  kept  upon 
as  moderate  a  scale  as  possible,  yet  his  Majesty's  servants,  considering 
that  the  protection  of  the  fur  trade  and  perhaps  the  general  security 
of  the  province  of  Quebec  may  in  some  degree  depend  upon  the  part 
these  people  may  take,  would  rather  submit  to  an  augmentation  of 
such  supplies  than  suffer  them  to  be  discontented  or  dissatisfied,  par- 
ticularly at  this  moment,  when  their  active  assistance  may  possibly 
be  called  for,  and  which  must  happen  should  the  posts  be  attacked. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  Americans  will  not  proceed  to  hostile 
measures  ;  but  if  they  should  avail  themselves  of  any  opportunity 
which  may  offer  of  seizing  upon  the  posts,  it  will  become  your  lord- 
ship's duty  to  use  every  endeavor  to  regain  the  possession  of 
them,  if  you  should  find  yourself  sufficiently  strong  to  be  able  to 
effect  it. 

With  regard  to  the  establishment  of  a  militia,  I  am  to  acquaint 
your  lordship  that  his  Majesty's  servants  entirely  approve  of  the 
measure.  It  will  not  only  immediately  add  to  the  internal  strength 
of  the  province,  but  will  be  a  means  of  attaching  the  principal  Cana- 
dian families,  and  will  incline  them  warmly  to  engage  in  the  support 
of  its  interests  whenever  they  may  be  invaded. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  your  lordship  has  been  able  to  succeed  in 
your  endeavors  to  procure  a  sufficient  number  of  seamen  to  compose 
the  crews  of  the  vessels  which  your  lordship  proposed  to  employ  upon 
the  lakes  ;  at  present  it  seems  to  be  very  difficult  to  raise  supplies  of 
seamen  in  this  country,  and  could  it  even  easily  be  done,  it  might  per- 
haps be  advisable,  considering  the  uncertain  state  of  affairs  upon  the 
European  continent,  to  secure  their  services  on  this  side  the  Atlantic. 
But  if  your  lordship  should  still  remain  under  any  difficulties,  I  have 
no  doubt  that  the  officer  commanding  the  king's  ships  upon  the  Ameri- 


LETTEES   ANB   PAPERS.  441 

can  station  will  be  ready  to  lend  every  assistance  which  the  small 
squadron  under  his  orders  can  enable  him  to  do. 

The  report  of  an  intention  on  the  part  of  America  to  apply  for  a 
sovereififu  of  the  house  of  Hanover  has  been  circulated  here  ;  and 
should  an  application  of  that  nature  be  made,  it  will  require  a  very 
nice  consideration  in  what  manner  so  important  a  subject  should  be 
treated.  But  whatever  ideas  may  have  been  formed  upon  it,  it  will 
upon  all  accounts  be  advisable  that  any  influence  which  your  lordship 
may  possess  should  be  exerted  to  discourage  the  strengthening  their 
alliance  with  the  house  of  Bourbon,  which  must  naturally  follow  were 
a  sovereign  to  be  chosen  from  any  branch  of  that  family. 

3Iajor  Jackson  to  Washington,  17  Sept.,  1787. 

Major  Jackson  presents  his  most  respectful  compliments  to  General 
"Washington.  He  begs  leave  to  request  his  signature  to  forty  diplomas 
intended  for  the  Rhode  Island  Society  of  the  Cincinnati. 

Major  Jackson,  after  burning  all  loose  scraps  of  paper  which  be- 
long to  the  convention,  will  this  evening  wait  upon  the  general  with 
the  journals  and  other  papers  which  their  vote  directs  to  be  delivered 
to  his  Excellency  Monday  evening. 

Carrington  to  JIadison,  JVeio  Tori',  23  Sept.,  1787.     Ex. 

My  dear  Sir  :  The  gentlemen  w^ho  have  arrived  from  the  conven- 
tion inform  us  that  you  are  on  the  way  to  join  us.  Lest,  however,  you 
may,  under  a  supposition  that  the  state  of  the  delegation  is  such  as  to 
admit  of  your  absence,  indulge  yourself  in  leisurely  movements  after 
the  fatiguing  time  you  have  had,  I  take  this  precaution  to  apprise 
you  that  the  same  schism  which  unfortunately  happened  in  our  state 
in  Philadelphia,  threatens  us  here  also.  One  of  our  colleagues,  Mr. 
R.  H.  Lee,  is  forming  propositions  for  essential  alterations  in  the  con- 
stitution, which  will,  in  effect,  be  to  oppose  it.  Another,  Mr.  Gray- 
son, dislikes  it,  and  is  at  best  for  giving  it  only  a  silent  passage  to  the 
states.  Mr.  H.  Lee  joins  me  in  opinion  that  it  ought  to  be  warmly 
recommended  to  insure  its  adoption.  A  lukewarmness  in  congress 
will  be  made  a  ground  of  opposition  by  the  unfriendly  in  the  states. 
Those  who  have  hitherto  wished  to  bring  the  conduct  of  congress  into 
contempt  will,  in  this  case,  be  ready  to  declare  it  truly  respectable. 

Next  Wednesday  is  fixed  for  taking  under  consideration  this  busi- 
ness, and  I  ardently  wish  you  could  be  with  us. 


442  APPENDIX. 

The  Ne-w  York  faction  is  ratber  active  in  spreading  the  seeds  of 
opposition.  This,  however,  has  been  expected,  and  will  not  make  an 
impression  so  injurious  as  the  same  circumstance  would  in  some  other 
states.  Colonel  Hamilton  has  boldly  taken  his  ground  in  the  public 
papers,  and,  having  truth  and  propriety  on  his  side,  it  is  to  be  hoped 
he  will  stem  the  torrent  of  folly  and  iniquity. 

I  do  not  implicitly  accede  in  sentiment  to  every  article  of  the 
scheme  proposed  by  the  convention,  but  I  see  not  how  my  utmost 
wishes  are  to  be  gratified  until  I  can  withdraw  from  society.  So  long 
as  I  find  it  necessary  to  combine  my  strength  and  interests  with 
others,  I  must  be  satisfied  to  make  some  sacrifices  to  the  general 
accommodation. 

Report  to  Count  de  Montmorin,  Yersailles,  8  Oct.,  1787. 

You  are  aware,  sir,  of  the  advances  which  the  royal  treasury  made 
to  the  United  States  of  Korth  America  during  the  last  war,  and  of 
the  terms  of  the  contract  agreed  to  by  the  king  and  congress  in  July, 
1782,  for  repayment  and  for  the  interest  on  these  advances. 

I  see  with  pain,  according  to  the  account  which  has  just  been  ren- 
dered to  me,  that  these  terms  have  not  been  fulfilled,  and  that  the 
United  States  are  greatly  in  arrears  in  their  engagements. 

On  the  first  of  January  next  they  will  owe  us  : 

1.  800,000  livres  for  the  years  1786  and  IVS?,  interest  of  the  loan  of 

ten  millions  madein  Holland  in  1781  on   their  account       .         .      800,000 

2.  1,000,000  for  first  instalment  of  the  said  loan  falling  due  in  De- 

cember, 1787 1,000,000 

1,800,000 
Note.— The  king  is  bound  to  pay  this  1,800,000  livres 
in  Holland,  and  he  has  received  nothing  to  replace  it. 

Further,  the  United  States  owe  on  the  first  of  this  month  : 

1.  3,000,000,  four  years'  interest  at  five  per  cent,  of  loan  of  eighteen 

millious 3,600,000 

5,400,000 

2.  1,500,000,  first  payment  on  said  loan 1,500,000 

8.  Interest  at  five  per  cent,  since  1  January,  1784,  on  another  loan  of 

BlimilUons 1,125,000 

Total,  8,025,000 


LETTERS    AND    PAPEES.  443 

I  tliought  it  my  duty,  sir,  to  place  this  result  before  your  eyes, 
and  to  beg  you  to  employ  your  offices  to  hasten  the  repayment  of 
these  various  sums,  and  particularly  the  1,800,000  for  which  the  royal 
treasury  will  be  in  advance  at  the  end  of  this  year. 

I  shall  be  greatly  obliged  to  you  if  you  will  signify  to  me  what 
part  of  this  sum  I  can  depend  upon.     I  have  the  honor,  etc. 

(Signed)  Lambert. 

Washington  to  James  Madison,  Mount  Yernon,  10  Oct.,  17S7.  Ex. 
The  political  tenets  of  Colonel  M.  [INIason]  and  Colonel  R.  II.  L. 
[Richard  Henry  Lee]  are  always  in  unison.  It  may  be  asked  which 
of  them  gives  the  tone  ?  .  Without  hesitation  I  answer  the  latter,  be- 
cause I  believe  the  latter  will  receive  it  from  no  one.  He  has,  I  am 
informed,  rendered  himself  obnoxious  in  Philadelphia  by  the  pains  he 
took  to  disseminate  his  objections  among  some  of  the  leaders  of  the 
seceding  members  of  the  legislature  of  that  state.  His  conduct  is  not 
less  reprobated  in  this  country.  How  it  will  be  relished  generally  is 
yet  to  be  learned  by  me.' 

Washington  to  Colonel  David  Humphregs,  10  Oct.,  17S7.  Ex. 
My  dear  Humphreys  :  Go  matters,  however,  as  they  may,  I  shall 
have  the  consolation  to  reflect  that  no  objects  but  the  public  good,  and 
that  peace  and  harmony  which  I  wished  to  see  prevail  in  the  conven- 
tion, obtruded  even  for  a  moment  in  my  bosom  during  the  whole  ses- 
sion, long  as  it  was.  What  reception  this  state  will  give  to  the  pro- 
ceedings in  all  its  extent  of  territory  is  more  than  I  can  inform  you 
of  ;  in  these  parts  it  is  advocated  beyond  my  expectation.  The  great 
opposition  (if  great  there  should  be)  will  come  from  the  southern  and 
western  counties,  from  whence  I  have  not  as  yet  received  any  accounts 
that  are  to  be  depended  on. 

Instructions  to  the  Count  de  Moustier,  Versailles,  13  Oct.,  1787.  Ex. 
I  have  the  honor,  sir,  to  send  you  your  instructions.'  They  make 
mention  of  a  document  regarding  commerce.  I  will  cause  it  to  be 
forwai'ded  to  you  as  soon  as  it  shall  have  been  addressed  by  the  comp- 
troller-general. You  know  that  it  is  to  include  the  result  of  a  treaty 
which  has  for  its  object  to  determine  the  advantages  which  France  is 

'  This  passage,  left  out  by  Sparks,  ix.     Book.     It  has  been  printed  in  the  "  Ciucin- 
267,   is  copied  from  Washington's  Letter    nati  Enquirer." 


444  APPENDIX. 

willing  to  grant  to  American  commerce.  As  to  the  obligations  whicli 
are  also  mentioned  in  your  instructions,  you  will  find  them  in  the  cor- 
resjiondence  of  M.  de  Chevalier  de  la  Luzerne, 

The  political  object,  sir,  which  I  have  to  recommend  most  strongly 
to  your  attention  is  the  conduct  of  England,  and  the  sentiment  which 
prevails  in  America  regarding  that  power. 

I  surmise  that,  if  war  should  break  out,  the  Americans  would  wish 
to  remain  neutral.  The  king  would  probably  willingly  favor  this 
disposition,  provided  it  should  be  carried  out  in  good  faith.  But 
it  is  not  the  moment  to  be  more  explicit  upon  this  point,  since 
circumstances  may  counteract  our  principles.  For  the  rest,  it  ap- 
pears to  me  that  it  will  become  the  business  of  the  Americans  to 
approach  us  in  a  matter  which  will  make  an  exception  to  our  treaty 
of  alliance. 

Accordingly,  sir,  if  you  are  sounded  on  this  subject,  you  will  re- 
spond with  the  greatest  circumspection,  and  you  will  take  heed  to  say 
nothing  which  may  bind  or  embarrass  his  Majesty.  For  the  rest,  I 
maintain  a  steadfast  hope  that  war  may  still  be  prevented. 

Monroe  to  Madison,  MicJimond,  13  Oct.,  1787. 
The  report  from  Philadelphia  hath  presented  an  interesting  sub- 
ject to  their  consideration.  It  will  perhaps  agitate  the  minds  of  the 
people  of  this  state  more  than  any  subject  they  have  had  in  contem- 
plation since  the  commencement  of  the  late  revolution,  for  there  will 
be  a  greater  division  among  the  people  of  character  than  then  took 
place,  provided  we  are  well  informed  as  to  the  sentiments  of  many 
of  them.  It  is  said  that  Mr.  Henry,  General  Nelson,  Harrison,  and 
others,  are  against  it.  This  ensures  it  a  powerful  opposition,  more 
especially  when  associated  with  that  of  the  two  dissenting  deputies. 
There  are,  in  my  opinion,  some  strong  objections  against  the  proj- 
ect, which  I  will  not  weary  you  with  a  detail  of  ;  but  under  the 
predicament  in  which  the  union  now  stands,  and  this  state  in  par- 
ticular, with  respect  to  this  business,  they  are  overbalanced  by  the 
arguments  in  its  favor.  The  assembly  will  meet  to-morrow,  and  we 
have  reason  to  believe  we  shall  have  a  house  the  first  or  second  day. 
"We  shall  soon  find  how  its  pulse  beats,  and  what  direction  this 
l)usines3  will  take.  I  believe  there  will  be  no  opposition  to  a  con- 
vention ;  however,  of  this  I  shall  be  able  to  give  you  better  infor- 
mation in  a  few  days. 


LETTERS   AND    PAPEES.  445 


Grayson  to  Monroe,  New  YorJc,  22  Oct.,  1787.     Ex. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  have  received  your  favor,  and  delivered  the  enclosure 
to  Miss  Kortright,  the  captain  being  on  a  trip  to  the  township.  Con- 
gress four  days  since  made  a  contract  with  Royal  Flint  and  associates, 
of  New  York,  for  three  millions  of  acres  on  the  Wabash,  on  nearly 
the  same  terms  as  that  of  Cutler  and  Sarjeant.  I  believe  I  informed 
you  that  Judge  Symms,  of  Jersey,  had  contracted  for  two  millions  be- 
tween the  Great  and  the  Little  Miami.  The  whole  of  the  contracts 
will,  when  fully  complied  with,  amount  to  an  extinguishment  of  six 
millions  dollars  of  the  domestic  debt ;  and  congress,  noio  looking  upon 
the  western  country  in  its  true  light — i.  e.,  as  a  most  valuable  fund  for 
the  extinctionment  of  the  domestic  debt — have  directed  the  treasury 
board  to  continue  the  sales  on  nearly  the  same  terms  and  principles  as 
those  already  made.  A  very  considerable  emigration  will  take  effect 
from  the  five  easternmost  states.  A  brigade  files  off  from  Massachu- 
setts immediately,  which  is  to  be  followed  by  much  more  consider- 
able ones  next  spring  and  fall.  A  Dr.  Gano,  a  Baptist  preacher  in 
this  town,  will  carry  out  (it  is  said)  his  whole  congregation,  amount- 
ing to  five  hundred.  Symms  is  beating  up  for  volunteers  in  the  Jer- 
seys, as  is  the  case  with  Parsons  in  Connecticut,  and  Yarnum  in  Rhode 
Island  ;  these  two  last  are  appointed  judges  in  the  western  country. 

Congress  have  authorized  St.  Clair,  now  governor  of  the  western 
territory,  to  hold  a  treaty  with  the  Indians  next  spring,  if  necessary, 
and  fourteen  thousand  dollars  are  appropriated  for  this  pui*pose  ;  a 
treaty  is  also  directed  with  the  Cherokees  and  Creeks,  and  six  thou- 
sand dollars  are  appropriated  for  it. 

The  new  constitution  is  favorably  received  in  Connecticut,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  New  Jersey  ;  in  this  state  it  is  thought  there  is  a  major- 
ity against  it,  and  in  Pennsylvania  that  the  joros  and  cons  are  nearly 
equal.  From  Rhode  Island  and  New  IIam];)shire  I  have  no  informa- 
tion. 

Carrington  to  Jefferson,  New  York,  23  Oct.,  1787. 

The  project  is  warmly  received  in  the  eastern  states,  and  has  become 
pretty  generally  a  subject  of  consideration  in  town  meetings  and  other 
assemblies  of  the  people,  the  usual  result  whereof  are  declarations  for 
its  adoption.  In  the  middle  states  appearances  are  generally  for  it, 
but  not  being  in  habits  of  assembling  for  public  objects,  as  is  the  case 
to  the  eastward,  the  people  have  given  but  few  instances  of  collective 


446  APPENDIX. 

declarations.  Some  symptoms  of  opposition  have  appeared  in  Xew 
York  and  Pennsylvania  ;  in  the  former  only  in  individual  publications, 
which  are  attended  with  no  circumstances  evidencing  the  popular  re- 
gard. The  governor  holds  himself  in  perfect  silence,  wishing,  it  is 
suspected,  for  a  miscarriage,  but  is  not  confident  enough  to  commit 
himself  in  an  open  opposition  ;  in  the  latter,  the  opposition  has  assumed 
a  form  somewhat  more  serious,  but  under  circumstances  which  leave  it 
doubtful  whether  it  is  founded  in  objections  to  the  project  or  the  in- 
temperance of  its  more  zealous  friends. 

From  the  southern  states  we  are  but  imperfectly  informed  ;  every 
member  from  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia,  as  well  in  convention  as  con- 
gress, are  warm  for  the  new  constitution  ;  and,  when  we  consider  the 
ascendency  possessed  by  men  of  this  description  over  the  people  in 
those  states,  it  may  well  be  concluded  that  the  reception  will  be  favor- 
able. In  Virginia  there  may  be  some  difficulty  ;  two  of  her  members 
in  convention,  whose  characters  entitle  them  to  the  public  confidence, 
refused  to  sign  the  report ;  these  were  Colonel  Mason  and  Governor 
Randolph.  Xor  was  that  state  without  its  dissentients,  of  the  same 
description,  in  congress  ;  these  Avere  Mr.  R.  H.  Lee  and  Mr.  Grayson, 
but  upon  very  opposite  principles — the  former  because  it  is  too  strong, 
the  latter  because  it  is  too  weak. 

Mr.  Madison  writes  you  fully  upon  the  objections  from  Virginia, 
and  therefore  I  will  not  impose  on  your  patience  by  repeating  them  ; 
one,  however,  being  merely  local,  and  an  old  source  of  jealousy,  I  will 
present  to  your  consideration  my  opinion  upon  ;  this  is  the  ability  of 
a  bare  majority  in  the  federal  government  to  regulate  commerce.  It 
is  supposed  that  a  majority  of  the  union  are  carriers,  and  that  it  will 
be  for  the  interest  and  in  the  power  of  that  majority  to  form  regula- 
tions oppressing,  by  high  freights,  the  agricultural  states.  It  does  not 
appear  to  me  that  tliis  objection  is  well  founded. 

A  navigation  act  ought,  doubtless,  to  be  passed  for  giving  exclusive 
benefits  to  American  ships.  This  would,  of  course,  serve  the  eastern 
states,  and  such  in  justice  ought  to  be  the  case,  as  it  may,  perhaps,  be 
shown  that  no  other  advantage  can  result  to  them  from  the  revolution  ; 
indeed,  it  is  important  to  the  interests  of  the  southern  states  that  the 
growtli  of  a  navy  be  p,romoted  for  the  security  of  that  wealth  which 
is  to  be  derived  from  tlieir  agriculture. 

The  western  territory  belonging  to  the  United  States  has  more  effect- 
ually received  the  attention  of  congress,  during  this  session  than  it  ever 


LETTEKS    AND    PAPERS.  447 

did  before.  Enclosed  you  will  receive  the  ordinance  for  establishing  a 
temporary  government  there,  and  providing  for  its  more  easy  passage 
into  permanent  state  governments.  Under  the  old  arrangement  the 
country  might  upon  the  whole  have  become  very  populous,  and  yet  be 
inadmissible  to  the  rights  of  state  government,  which  would  have  been 
disgusting  to  them  and  ultimately  inconvenient  for  the  empire.  The 
new  arrangement  depends  on  the  accession  of  Virginia,  which  there 
can  be  no  doubt  of  obtaining. 

Otto  to  3Tontmorin,  JVeio  TorJc,  23  Oct.,  1787.     Ex. 

Surprise  is  manifested  that  congress  itself  is  not  of  one  mind  in  re- 
gard to  the  great  powers  which  are  proposed  to  be  granted  to  it. 

Mr.  Richard  Henry  Lee  is  at  the  head  of  the  opposition.  Although 
chosen  a  member  of  the  convention  at  Philadelphia,  he  steadfastly 
refused  to  betake  himself  thither.  ITe  does  not  consider  that  the  situ- 
ation of  the  United  States  is  so  desperate  that  a  necessity  exists  of 
resorting  to  violent  remedies  ;  he  especially  disapproves  of  the  grant 
of  immense  power  to  the  government  without  introducing  the  consti- 
tution by  a  bill  of  rights,  which  has  always  been  regarded  as  the  pal- 
ladium of  a  free  people.  "  If,"  he  says,  "  instead  of  a  virtuous  and 
patriotic  pi-esident,  they  give  us  a  William  V.,  what  will  become  of  our 
liberty  ?  how  shall  we  avoid  usurpation  ^  Where  is  the  compact  be- 
tween the  nation  and  the  government  ?  The  constitution  makes  men- 
tion only  of  those  who  govern,  nowhere  of  the  rights  of  the  people 
governed."  This  new  Gracchus  has  all  the  talents  necessary  to  cause 
an  impression  ;  opposed  to  him  are  men  equally  distinguished  for  their 
merit,  leai-ning,  and  their  services  ;  but  he  pleads  the  cause  of  the 
people. 

The  continental  treasury  is  so  exhausted  that  the  commissioners  do 
not  know  how  to  satisfy  the  most  urgent  needs.  The  moment  of 
effectually  pressing  the  claims  of  his  Majesty  has  not  yet  come  ;  from 
this  point  of  view  the  proposed  government  would  certainly  be  more 
favorable  to  us. 

General  St,  Clair,  the  present  president  of  congress,  has  recently 
been  appointed  governor  of  the  western  country ;  the  other  officers 
have  also  been  chosen,  and  are  about  to  set  out  for  their  destination. 
Several  officers  of  the  army,  and  a  great  number  of  adventurers,  are 
flocking  thither  to  form  settlements  there.  The  excess  of  popula- 
tion in  the  northern  states  and  all  the  discontented  are  journeying 


448  APPENDIX. 

tliither  in  crowds,  and  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  will  soon  he  covered 
with  plantations. 

Lord  Dorchester  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  Quebec,  2Jf.  Oct.,  1787. 

My  Loed  :  A  proposal  was  made  to  me  by  Mr.  Silas  Deane,  a  few 
daj-s  before  my  departure  from  England,  to  cut  a  canal  from  Lake 
Champlain,  round  the  rapids  of  St.  John,  into  the  basin  of  Chambly, 
for  the  purpose  of  opening  a  navigation  to  that  lake  from  the  river 
St.  Lawrence,  for  vessels  of  a  certain  burden. 

As  far  as  a  cursory  view  of  the  country  can  justify  any  opinion,  this 
object  appears  to  be  practicable  and  useful,  both  in  a  commercial  and 
a  political  view,  provided  the  conditions  of  executing  the  same  be  not 
objectionable. 

I  have  therefore  advised  Mr.  Deane  to  lay  the  particulars  of  his  plan 
and  proposals  before  your  lordship,  that  the  same  may  be  considered 
and  submitted  to  the  king's  pleasure. 

C.  Gadsden  to  Thoonas  Jefferson,  Charleston,  29  Oct.,  1787. 

I  make  no  doubt  the  philosophic  part  of  Europe  will  admire  the  con- 
stitution recommended  by  our  convention  ;  the  trading  part  of  Great 
Britain,  perhaps,  many  of  them,  may  be  jealous  of  it,  considered  in  a 
commercial  view,  in  its  probable  consequence  to  them,  by  increasing 
the  means  of  opening  the  eyes  of  America  and  exposing  many  rooted 
prejudices  to  them  particularly. 

For  my  part  I  bless  God  to  have  lived  to  see  this  important  point  in 
so  fair  a  way  to  be  accomplished  ;  and,  if  I  live  to  see  it  completely 
PC,  I  shall  be  able  to  cry  out  with  old  Simeon  :  "  Now  may  thy  servant 
depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation." 

Langdon  to  Washington,  Portsmouth,  6  JVbv.,  1787. 

Your  Excellency  will  permit  me  to  congratulate  you  on  the  prospect 
that  appears  in  this  i^art  of  the  continent  of  speedily  establishing 
the  national  plan  of  government,  in  the  formation  of  which  you 
took  so  laborious  a  part.  I  have  not  heard  a  single  person  object 
to  the  plan,  and  very  few  find  fault  even  with  a  single  sentence, 
but  all  express  their  greatest  desire  to  have  it  established  as  soon  as 
may  be. 

Our  general  court  unfortunately  adjourned  a  'few  days  before  the 
oflicial  j»l;in  caiue  to  hand,  but  will  meet  again  next  month,  and  no 


LETTERS    AND    PAPERS.  449 

doubt  will  call  the  convention  early,  for  the  purpose  of  accepting  the 
national  plan  of  government.     I  have  the  honor,  etc. 

Lord  Dorchester  to  Lord  Sydney,  Quebec,  8  iVby.,  1787.  Ex. 
My  Lord  :  The  political  system,  which  lost  thirteen  populous  prov- 
inces, cannot  preserve  us  these  remaining  fragments  for  a  long  space 
of  time.  I  cannot  too  often  repeat  it  :  the  provincials  must  have 
nothing  to  gain  by  a  separation,  or  we  must  not  depend  upon  their 
attachment,  and  without  their  attachment  the  dominion  of  Great  Brit- 
ain will  be  of  short  duration.  But  should  these  pi'ovinces  be  so  gov- 
erned as  to  leave  them  neither  private  nor  public  advantage  to  hope 
for  by  a  revolution,  should  they  have  nothing  to  hope  but  much  to 
fear  from  a  separation,  the  cause  of  defence  may  be  made  their  own, 
national  strength  will  be  derived  from  their  zeal,  and  in  the  succession 
of  time  many  national  and  mutual  advantages  may  result  from  the 
connection. 

•  But  I  must  further  observe  that  whatever  is  proper  to  grant  should 
be  granted  without  delay.  Delay  affords  opportunities  to  turbulent 
and  factious  men  to  poison  whatever  flows  from  the  pure  benevolence 
of  the  crown,  and  to  arrogate  to  their  own  seditious  insolence  the  merit 
of  all  the  free  but  tardy  bounties  of  government ;  and  by  such  means 
they  too  frequently  are  suffered  to  usurp  the  gratitude  and  confidence 
of  the  people,  which,  once  esti'anged  from  their  natural  objects,  seldom 
return  unimpaired,  and  are  easily  employed  for  the  worst  of  purposes. 

Otto  to  Montmorin,  New  York,  10  JSFov.,  1787. 

In  consequence  of  the  treaty  of  peace  which  confirms  to  the  United 
States  all  the  territory  this  side  of  the  Mississippi  as  far  as  the  thirty- 
first  parallel,  the  Georgians  have  thought  themselves  authorized  to 
take  possession  of  a  part  of  the  territory  of  the  Creeks,  one  of  the 
most  powerful  nations  of  the  interior,  whom  the  vicinity  of  the  Span- 
iards renders  more  daring  ;  and  although  they  have  concluded  boun- 
dary treaties  with  these  savages,  they  have  not  been  very  scrupulous 
in  observing  them. 

This  state,  my  lord,  thus  finds  itself  somewhat  in  opposition  to  the 
government  of  West  Florida.  One  of  its  delegates  has  represented  to 
M.  Gardoqui  that  the  inhabitants  of  that  colony  protect  and  encourage 
the  negro  kidnappers  of  Georgia. 

Several  companies  have  been  formed  in  New  England  which  pur- 
voL.  II.  39 


450  APPENDIX. 

chase  from  congress  whole  districts  of  several  millions  of  acres  ;  they 
receive  stockholders  from  all  quarters,  and  inasmuch  as  the  payments 
may  be  made  in  paper  of  the  continental  loan,  many  French  holders 
of  these  bills  have  joined  them. 

An  acre  costs  the  equivalent  of  three  francs.  A  very  large  settle- 
ment has  been  made  on  the  Mississippi,  between  the  Illinois  river  and 
that  of  the  Kaskaskias  ;  it  is  proposed  to  build  a  town  nearly  opi:)Osite 
the  Missouri,  whither  they  count  upon  attracting  all  the  fur  trade 
which  descends  that  great  river. 

There  is  always  something  of  the  wonderful  in  these  projects,  but 
there  is  perhaps  no  civilized  nation  which  changes  its  habitation  more 
readily  than  the  Americans,  and  which  founds  settlements  more  rap- 
idly. 

A  society  which  has  just  been  incorporated  in  Massachusetts  to  send 
missionaries  to  the  savages,  will  but  hasten  the  first  clearings  of  these 
new  colonies. 

It  has  been  noticed  in  Pennsylvania  that  the  Quaker  savages  become 
good  citizens,  industrious  and  contented,  and  in  spreading  Christian- 
ity among  these  tribes,  their  manners  may  certainly  be  softened. 

In  promoting  these  new  settlements,  undoubtedly  a  great  service  is 
rendered  to  humanity,  but  jDerhaps  it  would  have  been  more  politic  for 
the  United  States  to  render  themselves  as  compact  as  possible  by  re- 
stricting their  limits  toward  the  wert. 

This  state  of  affairs  would  certainly  be  very  desirable  if  the  United 
States  would  consent  simply  to  follow  their  natural  occupation,  agri- 
culture; but  this  constant  emigration  toward  the  west  is  little  in  accord 
with  the  principles  of  a  nation  which  aims  to  play  a  distinguished  role, 
to  equip  fleets,  to  extend  its  commerce  to  the  ends  of  Asia,  to  establish 
manufactures,  and  to  share  with  European  nations  the  benefits  they 
derive  from  their  colonics. 

Carrlnrjton  to  Joffars^on.,  Keio  ITorlc,  10  Nov.^  1787.  JEJx. 
The  legislature  have  directed  that  a  convention  be  held  in  June  for 
the  purpose  of  "adopting,  amending,  or  rejecting"  the  proposed  gov- 
ernment. The  long  postponement  was  occasioned  by  unfriendly  in- 
tentions toward  it,  but  I  apprehend  the  rapidity  of  the  movements  of 
the  other  states  in  the  business  will,  by  that  time,  have  brought  so 
many  into  the  adoption  that  even  its  enemies  will  see  the  necessity  of 
joining. 


LETTERS    AJfD    PAPERS.  451 


A.  Donald  to  Jefferson,  Richmond,  12  Xov.,  1787. 

Deak  Sir  :  Many  thanks  to  you  for  your  very  friendly  and  polite 
letter  of  the  twenty-eighth  July. 

You  will,  no  doubt,  have  seen  before  this  time  the  result  of  the 
deliberations  of  the  convention,  which  was  assembled  at  Philadelphia 
last  summer  for  revising  and  amending  the  federal  constitution.  I  am 
sorry  to  say  it  is  like  to  meet  with  strong  opposition  in  this  state. 

I  staid  two  days  with  General  Washington  at  Mount  Vernon,  about 
six  weeks  ago  ;  he  is  in  perfect  good  health,  and  looks  almost  as  well 
as  he  did  twenty  years  ago.  I  never  saw  him  so  keen  for  anything  in 
my  life  as  he  is  for  the  adoption  of  the  new  form  of  government. 

As  the  eyes  of  all  America  are  turned  toward  this  truly  great  and 
good  man  for  the  first  president,  I  took  the  liberty  of  sounding  him 
upon  it.  He  af)pears  to  be  greatly  against  going  into  public  life  again, 
pleads  in  excuse  for  himself  his  love  of  retirement  and  his  advanced 
age,  biTt,  notwithstanding  of  these,  I  am  fully  of  opinion  he  may  be 
induced  to  appear  once  more  on  the  public  stage  of  life. 

I  form  my  opinion  from  what  passed  between  us  in  a  very  long  and 
serious  conversation,  as  well  as  from  what  I  could  gather  from  Mrs. 
Washington  on  same  subject. 

Our  assembly  are  now  sitting  ;  they  have  not  yet  done  much  busi- 
ness, but  what  has  been  done  is  highly  commendable.  They  have  in 
very  strong  and  pointed  language  thrown  out  a  proposal  for  emitting 
paper  money. 

Samuel  Poieell  to  Washington,  13  N'ov.,  1787.  Ex. 
Our  good  friends,  Messrs.  Robert  and  Gouverneur  Morris,  left  this 
city  yesterday,  and  will  probably  be  with  you  before  the  arrival  of  this 
letter.  They  will  be  able  to  give  you  a  full  and  ample  detail  of  all 
matters  relative  to  our  grand  question,  I  mean  the  acceptation  of  the 
federal  constitution.  In  Maryland  there  is  a  secret  opposition  from 
a  member  of  the  assembly,  but  it  is  believed  that  his  politics  will  not 
succeed.  It  is  said  that  R.  II.  Lee  escaped  the  resentment  of  the 
people  at  Chester  by  his  short  stay  there,  which  he  employed  in  fix- 
ing up  and  distributing  printed  papers  against  the  proposed  consti- 
tution. At  Wilmington  he  harangued  the  populace  and  cautioned 
them  against  hastily  adopting  it,  assuring  them  that  a  powerful  opposi- 
tion was  forming  against  it  in  Philadelphia,  and,  in  confirmation  of  his 


452  APPEISTDIX. 

assertions,  distributed  many  of  liis  inflammator  j  papers.     On  such  con- 
duct there  can  be  but  one  comment  made. 

Washington  to  John  Langdon^  3  Dec,  1787.  Ex. 
The  public  pajiers  have  undoubtedly  announced  to  you  before  this 
the  proceedings  of  the  legislature  of  this  state  upon  the  business. 
They  have  appointed  the  convention  to  meet  on  the  first  Monday  in 
June  ;  whether  putting  it  off  to  so  late  a  period  will  be  favorable  or 
otherwise  must  be  determined  by  circumstances,  for  if  those  states 
whose  conventions  are  to  meet  sooner  should  adopt  the  plan,  I  think 
there  is  no  doubt  but  they  will  be  followed  by  this,  and,  if  some  of 
them  should  reject  it,  it  is  very  probable  that  the  oi3posers  of  it  here 
will  exert  themselves  to  add  this  state  to  the  number. 

Otto  to  3Iontmorin,  JVeio  TorJc,  7  Dec,  17S7. 

If  the  United  States,  on  the  score  of  their  political  constitution,  are 
still  great  laggards,  they  may  be  compared  with  the  oldest  and  most 
intelligent  nations  in  all  that  tends  to  make  the  arts  and  useful  sciences 
flourish  among  them. 

It  does  not  belong  to  me  to  enter  into  any  detail  with  regard  to  the 
great  number  of  societies  which  have  been  formed  in  America,  either 
to  superintend  the  education  of  the  young  or  to  ensure  the  property  of 
individuals  against  the  ravages  of  fire,  or  to  encourage  poor  emigrants 
and  those  stripped  of  their  resources,  to  resuscitate  the  drowned,  to 
spread  Christianity  among  the  savages,  to  abolish  negro  slavery,  or,  at 
least,  to  render  their  chains  less  galling. 

This  spirit  of  benevolence  and  humanity  has  spread  among  all  the 
American  institutions,  and  I  at  times  regret  that  I  cannot  represent 
to  you  these  people  under  that  interesting  point  of  view  which  is  most 
favorable  to  them. 

But  it  is  not  equally  foreign  to  my  task  to  submit  to  you  the  incen- 
tives offered  to  many  industries  or  manufactories  the  growth  of  which 
may  at  some  time  prove  of  interest  to  the  commerce  of  Europe,  either 
because  it  will  thereby  lose  a  branch  of  its  former  trade,  or  because  it 
Avill  there  find  a  new  market  of  raw  materials  for  its  own  manufac- 
tures. 

jNIany  states  of  the  union  already  contain,  my  lord,  respectable 
societies  to  promote  certain  industrial  objects  peculiar  to  them,  but  the 
one  which  appears  to  have  the  largest  means  and  the  most  comprehen- 


LETTERS    A]SrD    PAPERS.  453 

sive  plans  is  the  Philadelpliia  society.  Since  the  high  price  of  hand 
labor  has  hitherto  been  the  greatest  obstacle  in  the  establishment  of 
manufactures,  the  society  offers  a  prize  to  ■whoever  -will  invent  a 
machine  which,  by  means  of  fire,  water,  or  any  otner  agent,  will  be  able 
to  lessen  hand  work  in  cotton,  wool,  linen,  and  flax,  and  to  render 
their  manufacture  as  cheap  as  in  Europe. 

It  proposes  considerable  prizes  to  those  citizens  who,  in  the  course  of 
the  year  1788,  shall  have  cultivated  and  prepared  the  greatest  quantity 
of  flax,  of  linen,  and  of  cotton,  for  those  who  shall  have  manufactured 
the  most  beautiful  calicoes  or  prints,  who  shall  have  printed  the  finest 
book  on  types  and  paper  manufactured  in  Philadelphia,  who  shall  have 
made  the  most  beautiful  pottery  equal  to  that  of  Delft  or  England,  to 
those  who  shall  have  established  the  best  glass  factories,  and  to  those, 
finally,  who  shall  have  offered  for  sale  the  greatest  quantity  of  potash 
and  pearl  ashes,  who  shall  have  made  from  their  own  flocks  the  finest 
clip  of  wool,  who  shall  have  bleached  the  greatest  quantity  of  candle- 
wax  fit  for  exporting. 

The  society  offers  a  still  larger  prize  to  those  who  may  be  able  to 
prove  incontestably  that  they  have  taken  from  the  mines  and  from  the 
soil  of  Pennsylvania  the  largest  quantity  of  painters'  colors,  as  well  as 
to  those  who,  before  the  first  of  January,  1T89,  shall  have  manufac- 
tured the  greatest  number  of  anvils  of  the  best  quality,  comparable  to 
those  hitherto  imported  from  England. 

If  to  these  efforts  we  add  those  of  the  societies  which  have  been 
formed  to  render  navigable  the  Potomac,  the  Susquehanna,  and  other 
important  rivers,  to  construct  bridges,  to  send  out  colonies  into  the 
west,  to  found  business  houses  in  China,  in  the  Indies,  and  at  Moga- 
dore,  to  fish  for  the  whale  at  the  Falkland  Islands,  or  to  follow  the 
track  of  Cook  as  far  as  Behring's  Straits,  we  cannot  but  admire  their 
courage,  their  industry,  and  that  intelligence  which  causes  them  to 
conceive  the  mightiest  schemes  and  to  execute  them  with  limited 
means. 

The  disposition  of  the  United  States,  ray  lord,  to  shake  off  the  com- 
mercial yoke  of  Europe  can  only  affect  Great  Britain,  which  loses 
every  year  a  certain  part  of  its  trade  with  America. 

The  identity  of  language  and  of  manners  may,  I  confess,  promote 
connections,  but  it  has  this  peculiar  result:  that  the  discoveries  made  in 
England  become  at  once  common  to  the  United  States,  that  workmen 
are  easily  transported,  and  produce  in  Philadelphia  or  in  Boston  as 


454  APPENDIX. 

perfect  work  as  in  London.  This  is  not  true  of  the  articles  which 
France  may  be  able  to  furnish  to  these  states. 

The  wines,  brandies,  and  silks,  it  would  seem,  ought  to  assure  us 
here  for  a  long  time  a  considerable  market. 

The  reflections  which  I  have  just  had  the  honor  of  submitting  to 
you  scarcely  conform  to  the  vague  and  exaggerated  reports  with  which 
almost  all  the  European  and  American  publications  are  flooded  in 
regard  to  the  situation  of  the  United  States. 

They  confound  the  uncertainty  of  a  people  which  has  not  yet  chosen 
its  form  of  stable  and  permanent  government  with  disorder  and  inter- 
nal anarchy  ;  but  this  uncertainty  is  only  felt  abroad  or  in  their  polit- 
ical discussions  without  affecting  in  any  Avay  the  tranquillity  and  in- 
dustry of  the  citizens. 

The  partisans  whom  England  still  has  in  America,  and  of  whom  some 
are  infatuated  enough  to  hoije  for  a  reunion  of  the  two  countries, 
make  haste  to  confirm  tbese  false  news  ;  perhaps,  too,  England,  having 
more  to  fear  from  emigrations,  is  interested  in  representing  this  coun- 
try under  a  pomt  of  view  the  most  disadvantageous  ;  but  if  one  studies 
ever  so  little  the  general  prosperity,  individual  comfort,  the  well-nigh 
inconceivable  growth  of  all  parts  of  the  republic,  one  is  tempted  to 
believe  that  of  all  the  countries  of  the  world,  this  one  has  taken  the 
longest  strides  toward  opulence  and  formidable  power. 

Otto  to  Montmorin,  Kew  ITorTi,  15  Dec,  17S7.     Ex. 

"We  learn  that  the  general  convention  of  the  state  of  Delaware  has 
unanimously  ratified  the  new  constitution. 

That  small  state  has  the  honor  of  having  given  the  first  signal  of  a 
revolution  in  the  general  government  of  the  United  States,  and  its 
example  can  but  i^roduce  a  good  effect  in  the  other  conventions. 

The  legislature  of  Virginia,  in  ordering  the  election  of  a  general 
convention,  has  voted  at  the  same  time  for  the  choice  of  several  com- 
missioners to  be  sent  to  the  other  states  in  case  the  convention  should 
decide  to  propose  certain  amendments  to  tlie  new  constitution.  This 
resolution,  adopted  by  a  large  majority,  appears  to  be  of  bad  omen. 

The  news  from  Georgia,  my  lord,  continue  to  be  very  alarming. 
Tlie  Creeks  perpetrate  unheard-of  cruelties  on  the  inhabitants.  Half 
of  the  militia  has  received  orders  to  march,  and  the  state  is  striving  to 
raise  four  regiments  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  men  each.  Fifteen 
liundred  citizens  of  tlie  little  state  of  Frankland  have  aiji'ocd  to  make 


LETTEES    AND    PAPEES.  455 

common  cause  with  tbe  Georgians,  who  have  sent  a  commissioner  to 
the  Spanish  governors  to  beg  them  not  to  give  aid  to  their  enemies. 
This  measure  is  the  more  prudent  as  it  is  only  from  tbe  two  Floridas 
that  the  Creeks  can  obtain  their  arms  and  munitions  of  war.  Mr. 
Gillivray,  a  violent  royalist  whose  property  was  confiscated  by  the 
state  of  Georgia  during  the  revolution,  is  at  the  head  of  the  savages, 
governs  them  like  a  king,  and  joins  to  the  boldness  of  the  savage  the 
education  and  knowledge  of  a  statesman.     I  am,  etc. 

Edm.  Ilandolph  to  'Washington^  Richmond,  27  Dec,  1787. 
The  enclosed  pamphlet '  speaks  so  fully  for  itself  that  any  explana- 
tion of  it  from  me  Avould  be  useless.  I  send  it  to  you  because  I  know 
your  friendship  for  the  writer,  and  because  I  take  pleasure  in  subscrib- 
ing myself  at  all  times  with  unfeigned  truth,  my  dear  sir,  your 
obliged  friend  and  servant. 

VTashington  to  Lafayette,  10  Jan.,  1788.     JEx. 
In  my  private  opinion  I  have  no  hesitation  to  believe  there  will  be 
a  clear  majority  in  favor  of  the  new  constitution  in  Virginia. 

Knox  to  Washington,  Neio  YorJc,  llf.  Jan.,  1788.  Ex. 
Connecticut  has  adopted  the  constitution  by  a  noble  majority  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  to  forty.  This  event  took  place  on  the 
ninth  instant,  I  call  the  majority  a  noble  one  because  it  included 
every  character  in  the  convention  of  any  real  importance  excepting 
General  James  Wadsworth,  whom  you  may  remember  as  commandant 
of  a  brigade  of  Connecticut  militia  in  the  year  1776.  Colonel  Wads- 
worth  wu'ites  me  that  the  present  governor  and  lieutenant-governor, 
the  late  governor,  the  judges  of  the  supreme  court,  and  the  council, 
were  at  the  convention,  and  all  for  the  constitution  excepting  James 
Wadsworth. 

Washington  to  John  Francis  Mercer,  Esq.,  IJf.  Jan.,  1788.  Ex, 
Mr.  White's  letter  is  returned  to  you,  and  I  should  be  glad  to 
know  precisely  whether  I  am  to  expect  any  and  what  part  of  the  two 
hundred  pounds  on  which  you  assured  me  in  Philadelphia  I  might 
absolutely  rely,  and  the  half  of  which  you  informed  me  in  November 
should  be  sent  to  me  by  your  servant  in  ten  days,  if  you  could  not 

'  Eandolph's  letter  of  tenth  October,  on  his  refusal  to  sign  the  constitution. 


456  APPEXDE?. 

get  the  residue.  I  have  put  the  sheriff  of  this  county  off  three  times. 
If  he  comes  again  I  must,  if  I  have  no  further  expectation  from  you, 
suffer  him  to  make  distress,  as  I  raised  nothing  last  year  for  sale,  and 
allotted  this  money  for  the  payment  of  my  taxes. 

Count  de  Bochamheau  to  Washington,  18  Jan.,  1788.     Ex. 

Poor  Count  de  Grasse,  our  colleague  in  the  expedition  against 
Cornwallis,  is  dead  the  day  before  yesterday  of  an  apoj^lexy.  He  had 
an  unhappy  end — the  pains  he  had  after  his  unlucky  fighting  of  the 
twelfth  of  April,  and  having  being  lately  married  again  with  a  woman 
of  bad  a  character — all  that  occasioned  him  a  great  sorrow.  I  made 
all  it  has  been  in  my  power  to  soften  his  pains,  but  by  the  vivacity  of 
his  head  he  did  take  always  violent  parts,  which  spoiled  all  what  his 
friends  could  make  in  his  favor. 

I  lc?ng,  my  dear  general,  to  see  your  convention  passed  upon  the 
plurality  of  the  states,  and  to  see  you  president  of  a  confederation 
strongly  settled. 

Washington  to  Samuel  Poic ell,  Jfount  Vernon,  18  Jan.,  1788.  Ex. 

Dear  Sir  :  North  Carolina  has,  it  seems,  postponed  the  meeting  of 
its  convention  to  a  later  period  than  that  of  Virginia,  which  indicates, 
I  conceive,  a  disj)osition  to  take  the  tone  from  hence. 

Ed.  Carrington  to  J.  Madison,  Richmond,  18  Jan.,  1788.  ^   Ex. 

My  dear  Sir  :  I  arrived  here  on  Wednesday  night  last ;  have  as 
yet  had  but  little  opportunity  to  sound  the  people  in  any  part  of  the 
country  upon  the  constitution.  The  leaders  of  the  opposition  appear 
generally  to  be  preparing  for  a  decent  submission  ;  the  language 
among  them  is,  that  amendments  must  be  tried  if  there  should,  at  the 
sitting  of  the  convention,  be  a  prospect  of  carrying  them  down  in  a 
respectable  number  of  states,  but  that  should  this  appear  improbable, 
the  constitution  must  be  adopted.  I  have  seen  but  few  of  these  gen- 
tlemen, but  have  good  information  as  to  most  of  their  dispositions 
upon  the  subject.  The  governor's  letter  to  the  public,  which  you 
doubtless  have  before  this  seen,  marks  out  this  conduct,  and  I  think 
that  pul>lication  will  be  of  great  service.  Mr.  Henry,  it  is  said,  is  de- 
termined to  amend,  and  leave  the  fate  of  the  measure  to  depend  on 
all  the  other  states  conforming  to  the  will  of  Virginia.  His  language 
is  that  the  other  states  cannot  do  without  us,  and  therefore  we  can 


LETTERS  AND  PAPERS.  457 

dictate  to  them  what  terras  \vc  please.  Should  they  be  weak  enough 
to  stand  out,  we  may  alone  enter  into  foreign  alliances.  The  staple  is 
such  that  any  nation  will  be  ready  to  treat  with  us  separately  ;  I  have 
not  heard  of  any  who  have  shown  a  disposition  to  go  this  length  with 
him,  except  Mr.  Bullet,  whom  I  saw  at  Dumfries,  and  I  think  at  the 
day  of  trial  but  few  will  be  found  so  mad. 

Mr.  B.  Randolph,  whose  apprehensions  from  the  gigantic  features 
in  the  constitution  appear  to  be  as  high  as  any  whatever,  is  of  opinion 
with  the  governor.  He  thinks  that  should  nine  states  have  adopted 
when  the  convention  of  Virginia  meets,  every  idea  of  amendment 
ought  to  be  abandoned  ;  but  that  should  there  be  a  less  number,  the  at- 
tempt must  be  made,  but  with  such  caution  as  not  to  hazard  entirely 
the  fate  of  the  measure.  I  am  persuaded  that  this  will  become  the 
prevailing  sentiment  among  the  malcontents  ;  and  in  that  case  there 
will  be  tolerable  safety,  because  I  see  no  prospect  of  more  than  Rhode 
Island,  New  York,  and  North  Carolina  holding  out.  The  latter,  it  is 
said,  and  I  believe  with  truth,  has,  out  of  respect  for  Virginia,  de- 
ferred her  convention  until  after  the  time  appointed  for  ours  to  sit. 

Washington  to  Charles  Carter,  3Iount  Vernon,  20  Jan.,  1788.     Ex. 

Dear  Sir  :  Your  favor  of  the  twenty-first  of  last  month  came  to 
my  hands  last  night  only.  I  wish  it  had  reached  me  in  time  for  the 
prevention  of  the  hasty  and  indigested  sentiments  of  my  former  letter 
going  to  the  press,  not,  as  I  observed  in  my  last,  because  I  had  the 
least  repugnance  to  the  communication  of  them  in  a  proper  dress,  ac- 
companied with  reasons  for  their  support,  if  any  person  whatever  was 
desirous  of  knowing  them. 

22  Jan. — I  am  satisfied  you  had  no  agency  in  publishing  the  ex- 
tract of  ray  letter  to  you,  which  is  now  to  be  traced  through  all  the 
newspapers. 

James  Madison,  Sr.,  to  Colonel  James  Madison,  Jr.,  SO  Jan.,  1788.  Ex. 
I  have  deferred  writing  to  you  till  I  saw  our  delegates  after  their 
return  from  the  assembly,  that  I  might  more  fully  inforra  you  of  their 
sentiments  of  the  proposed  constitution.  I  have  only  seen  Major 
Burnley  at  court  on  Monday  last,  but  did  not  hear  hira  say  anything 
about  it.  He  disapproves  of  it,  but  says  very  little  about  it,  probably 
as  he  does  not  intend  to  offer  his  service  for  the  convention  ;  he  may 
hurt  his  interest  in  the  election  for  delegates  to  the  assembly,  for 


458  APPENDIX. 

■R-Licli  be  intends  to  offer,  if  he  opposes  the  adoption  of  the  new  con- 
stitution too  warmly.  Colonel  Barbour  I  have  not  seen  ;  he  was  not 
at  court  ;  probably  was  preparing  for  his  mother's  funeral,  who  was  to 
be  interred  the  day  after.  lie  is  much  opj^osed  to  it,  and  is  a  candi- 
date for  the  convention.  "  I  believe  there  were  but  four  that  disap- 
proved of  it  at  first  in  this  county  ;  but  several  being  at  Richmond 
with  their  tobacco  at  the  time  the  assembly  was  sitting,  and  hearing 
the  many  objections  made  to  it,  altered  their  opinions,  and  have  in- 
fluenced some  others  who  are  no  better  acquainted  with  the  necessity 
of  adopting  it  than  they  themselves  ;  and  the  pieces  published  against 
it  have  had  their  intended  effect  with  some  others. 

The  Baj^tists  are  now  generally  opposed  to  it,  as  it  is  said.  Colonel 
Barbour  has  been  down  on  Pamunky  among  them,  and  on  his  return, 
I  hear,  publicly  declared  himself  a  candidate,  I  suppose,  on  the  en- 
couragement he  met  with  from  the  anti-federalists.  I  do  not  know  at 
present  any  other  candidates  but  yourself  and  Mr,  Gordon,  who  is  a 
warm  friend  to  the  constitution,  and  I  believe  no  others  that  are  for  it 
will  offer.  I  think  you  had  better  come  in  as  early  in  March  as  you 
can.  Many  of  your  friends  wish  it  ;  there  are  some  who  suspend 
their  opinion  till  they  see  you,  and  wish  for  an  explanation  ;  others 
wish  you  not  to  come,  and  will  endeavor  to  shut  you  out  of  the  con- 
vention, the  better  to  carry  their  point. 

Mr.  li.  H.  L.'s  letter  to  the  governor  is  much  approved  of  by  some, 
and  as  much  ridiculed  by  others  ;  and  so  is  the  reasoning  and  repre- 
sentation of  the  minority  of  the  Pennsylvania  convention.  I  am  your 
affectionate  father,  James  Madison. 

William  Moore  to  James  Madison,  Orange,  31  Jan.,  17S8. 
Dear  Sir  :  From  the  foregoing  information  of  your  father,  of  the 
fluctuating  sentiments  of  the  freeholders  of  this  county  on  the  con- 
stitution proposed  by  the  convention  at  Philadelphia,  and  the  arts  of 
some  men  in  this  county  to  mislead  the  people  whose  interests,  you 
know,  are  repugnant  to  a  government  that  Avill  administer  justice, 
safety,  protection,  and  true  liberty  to  the  good  and  virtuous  citizens 
of  America,  and  as  you  well  know  the  disadvantage  of  being  absent 
at  elections  to  those  who  offer  themselves  to  serve  the  public,  I  must 
therefore  entreat  and  conjure  you — nay,  command  you,  if  it  was  in  my 
7>ower — to  be  here  in  February  or  the  first  of  March  next.  If  you  do, 
I  think  your  election  will  be  certain  (if  not,  I  believe,  from  reports,  it 


LETTEES   AND    PAPEES.  459 

will  be  uncertain),  and  you  will  in  that  ease  be  able  to  silence  tbe  dis- 
aHected,  and  give  that  assistance  to  the  constitution  that  your  knowl- 
edge of  it,  and  the  necessity  of  such  establishment  to  the  well-being 
and  future  prosperity  of  America.  However,  sir,  be  assured  that  the 
friends  of  the  constitution  will  promote  your  interest  at  any  rate. 
But  let  me  repeat  it  again,  as  a  lover  of  your  country,  pray  don't  dis- 
appoint the  wishes  of  your  friends  and  many  others  who  are  waver- 
ing on  the  constitution,  that  are  anxiously  waiting  for  an  explanation 
from  you.  In  short,  they  want  your  sentiments  from  your  own  mouth, 
which,  they  say,  will  convince  them  of  the  necessity  of  adopting  it.  I 
am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  affectionately,  etc. 
P.  S. — I  repeat  again,  come. 

Was7u7igton  to  John  Fowler,  2  Mb.,  17 8S.  Ex. 
Sir  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  to-day,  and  in  answer  to  it 
must  inform  you  that  I  have  no  inclination  to  purchase  the  negro  fel- 
low which  you  mention,  as  I  have  already  as  many  slaves  as  I  wish, 
and  I  cannot  engage  to  give  another,  or  others,  in  exchange  for  him, 
because  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  agreeable  to  their  inclinations  to 
leave  their  connections  here,  and  it  is  inconsistent  with  my  feelings  to 
compel  them. 

Jefferson  to  W.  Smith,  Paris,  2  Feb.,  17SS.  Ex. 
Dear  Sir  :  I  am  glad  to  learn,  by  letters  which  come  down  to  the 
twentieth  of  December,  that  the  new  constitution  will  undoubtedly  be 
received  by  a  sufficiency  of  the  states  to  set  it  agoing.  "Were  I  in 
America,  I  would  advocate  it  warmly  till  nine  should  have  adopted, 
and  then  as  warmly  take  the  other  side  to  convince  the  remaining  four 
that  they  ought  not  to  come  into  it  till  the  declaration  of  rights  is 
annexed  to  it  ;  by  this  means  we  should  secure  all  the  good  of  it,  and 
procure  as  respectable  an  opposition  as  would  induce  the  accepting 
states  to  offer  a  bill  of  rights  ;  this  would  be  the  happiest  turn  the 
thing  could  take.  I  fear  much  the  effects  of  the  perpetual  re-eligibility 
of  the  president,  but  it  is  not  thought  of  in  America,  and  have,  there- 
fore, no  prospect  of  a  change  of  that  article,  but  I  own  it  astonishes 
me  to  find  such  a  change  wrought  in  the  opinions  of  our  countrymen 
since  I  left  them,  as  that  three  fourths  of  them  should  be  contented 
to  live  under  a  system  which  leaves  to  their  governors  the  power  of 
taking  from  them  the  trial  by  jury  in  civil  cases,  freedom  of  religion, 


460  APPENDIX. 

freedom  of  the  press,  freedom  of  commerce,  the  habeas  corpus  laws, 
and  of  yoking  them  with  a  standing  army  :  that  is  a  degeneracy  in 
the  princij^les  of  liberty  to  which  I  had  given  four  centuries  instead  of 
four  years,  but  I  hope  it  will  all  come  about.  We  are  now  vibrating 
between  too  much  and  too  little  government,  and  the  pendulum  will 
rest  finally  in  the  middle.     Adieu.     Yours  affectionately. 

John  Jay  to  George  'Washington,  8  Feb.,  1788.  Ex. 
A  few  months  more  will  decide  all  questions  respecting  the  adop- 
tion of  the  proposed  constitution.  I  sincerely  wish  it  may  take  place, 
though  less  from  an  idea  that  it  will  fully  realize  the  sanguine  expec- 
tations of  many  of  its  friends  than  because  it  establishes  some  great 
points,  and  smooths  the  way  for  a  system  more  adequate  to  our  na- 
tional objects. 

Jefferson  to  Madison,  Paris,  6  Feb.,  1788.  Ex. 
Dear  Sir  :  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  the  new  constitution  is  received 
with  favor.  I  sincerely  wish  that  the  nine  first  conventions  may  re- 
ceive, and  the  four  last  reject  it.  The  former  will  secure  it  finally, 
while  the  latter  will  oblige  them  to  offer  a  declaration  of  rights  in 
order  to  complete  the  union.  We  shall  thus  have  all  its  good  and  cure 
its  principal  defect.  You  will,  of  course,  be  so  good  as  to  continue  to 
mark  to  me  its  progress. 

Monroe  to  Madison,  Fredcriclsbiirg,  7  Feb.,  1788.  Ex. 
This  new  constitution  still  engages  the  minds  of  people  with  some 
zeal  among  the  partisans  on  either  side.  It  is  impossible  to  say  which 
preponderates.  The  northern  part  of  the  state  is  more  generally  for 
it  than  tlie  southern.  In  this  county  (except  in  the  town)  they  are 
against  it,  I  believe,  universally.  I  have,  however,  this  from  report 
only,  having  not  been  from  home.  My  late  colleague  is  decidedly  so. 
Mr.  Page  is  for  it,  and  forms  an  exception  to  the  above.  It  is  said 
here  that  Georgia  has  adopted  it — New  Hampshire  also.  Our  object 
in  the  postponement  of  the  meeting  of  our  convention  to  so  late  a  day 
was  to  furnish  an  evidence  of  the  disposition  of  the  other  states  to 
that  body  when  it  should  be  assembled.  If  they,  or  many  of  them, 
were  against  it,  our  state  might  mediate  between  contending  parties 
and  lead  the  way  to  a  union  more  palatable  to  all.  If  all  were  for 
it,  let  the  knowledge  of  that  circumstance  have  its  weight  in  their  de- 


LETTEES    AND    PAPERS.  461 

liberations.    This,  I  believe,  was  the  principle  on  which  that  measure  was 
ado]3ted,  at  least,  those  whose  sentiments  I  knew  expressed  it  to  be  theirs. 

General  Jlhox  to  H.  H.  Livingston,  N^eic  YorJc,  Sunday^  10  Fth.,  17SS. 
Dear  Sir  :  I  send  you  a  summary  statement  of  my  last  informa- 
tion from  Boston.  In  a  few  days  I  expect  to  be  able  to  congratulate 
you  on  the  adoption  of  the  new  constitution  by  Massachusetts.  On 
Wednesday,  the  thirtieth  ultimo,  JMr.  Hancock  was  well  enough  to 
take  his  seat  in  the  convention.  On  Thursday  he  brought  forward 
the  proposition  for  adopting  the  constitution,  and  for  recommending 
certain  alterations  agreeably  to  the  paper  herein  enclosed.  The  propo- 
sitions were  seconded  by  Mr.  Samuel  Adams,  and  committed  to  a 
large  committee  of  two  members  from  each  county,  a  majority  of  the 
committee  being  federalists.  As  the  propositions  were  the  production 
of  the  federalists  after  mature  deliberation,  there  cannot  be  a  doubt 
that  the  committee  will  report  in  favor  of  the  propositions  as  they  are 
stated.  The  final  question  was  most  certainly  taken  in  the  convention 
somewhere  between  the  fifth  and  eighth  instant.  The  members  of  the 
convention  and  others  who  wrote  to  me  on  the  third  instant  have  no 
doubt  with  respect  to  the  adoption  of  the  constitution,  but  they  do 
not  flatter  themselves  with  a  large  majority.  I  am,  with  great  esteem, 
dear  sir,  your  most  obedient,  humble  servant,  etc. 

A  most  perfect  union  was  effected  between  the  friends  of  Mr. 
Hancock  and  Mr.  Bowdoin.  Handsome  things  are  said  of  the  open 
and  decisive  conduct  of  IVIr.  Hancock,  and  also  of  Mr.  S.  Adams,  not- 
withstanding his  neutrality  in  the  first  part  of  the  business.  Please 
to  let  Mr.  Benson  see  this  letter.  I  am,  with  great  esteem,  dear  sir, 
your  most  obedient,  humble  servant,  etc. 

C.  Griffin  to  TJiomas  Fitzsimons,  Kew  York,  15  Feb.,  1788. 
Colonel  R.  H.  Lee  and  Mr.  John  Page,  men  of  influence  in  Vir- 
ginia, are  relinquishing  their  opposition  ;  but  what  to  us  is  very  extra- 
ordinary and  unexpected,  we  are  told  that  Mr.  George  Mason  has  de- 
clared himself  so  great  an  enemy  to  the  constitution  that  he  will  heartily 
join  Mr.  Henry  and  others  in  promoting  a  southern  confederacy. 

J'oh7i  Langdon  to  Hufus  King,  Portsmouth,  23  Feb.,  1788. 
Dear  Sir  :  I  am  sorry  to  inform  you  that  our  convention  adjourned 
yesterday  (to  meet  again  in  June  next)  without  completing  the  im- 


463  APPEISTDIX. 

portant  business  of  adopting  the  constitution.  Contrary  to  the  expec- 
tation of  almost  every  man  of  reflection,  at  our  first  meeting  a  majority 
appeared  against  the  plan,  a  great  part  of  whom  had  positive  instruc- 
tions to  vote  against  it.  However,  after  spending  ten  days  on  the 
arguments,  a  number  of  opponents  came  to  me  and  said  they  were 
convinced,  and  should  be  very  unhappy  to  vote  against  the  constitu- 
tion, which  they  (however  absurd)  must  do  in  case  the  question  was 
called  for.  I  therefore  moved  for  the  adjournment,  which  was  carried, 
though  much  opposed  by  the  other  side.  This  question  determined  a 
majority  in  favor  of  the  constitution,  had  it  not  been  for  their  instruc- 
tions.    This  shows  the  fatality  of  the  times. 

Knox  to  Washington,  JVeio  Ybi^k,  10  March,  1188.  Ex. 
The  business  in  this  state  is  critically  circumstanced,  and  the  par- 
ties nearly  balanced.  The  issue  will  depend  greatly  on  the  industry 
of  the  different  sides.  I  am  apprehensive  that  the  anti-federalists  will 
bo  the  most  indefatigable.  The  federalists  say  they  shall  have  a  small 
majority  certainly,  but  it  is  to  be  apprehended  that  their  confidence 
will  prove  highly  injurious  to  the  cause. 

B.  Lincoln  to  Washington,  Boston,  19  March,  1788.  Ex. 
Your  Excellency  will  recollect  that  our  last  house  of  assembly  was 
chosen  under  the  influence  of  the  insurgents,  most  of  whom  are 
against  the  proposed  constitution  at  the  least.  Had  it  been  submitted 
to  our  honse  of  representatives,  it  would  have  been  negatived.  We 
had  different  men  in  our  convention  ;  they  were  chosen  at  a  time  when 
the  spirit  of  insurgency  had,  in  a  degree,  subsided. 

Jag  to  Washington. 
Mr.    Jay   presents    his    compliments    to    his    Excellency,    General 
Washington,  and  sends  him  herewith  enclosed  the  first  volume  of  The 
Federalist.— 24  March,  1788. 

Wasliington  to  General  B.  Lincoln,  2  April,  1788. 
I  am  not  able  to  giA^c  you  any  more  satisfactory  information  upon 
the  subject  than  when  I  wrote  last  to  you.  This,  however,  I  may  say, 
that  the  northern  or  upper  countries  are  generally  friendly  to  the 
adoption  of  the  government,  the  lower  are  said'  to  be  generally  un- 
friendly, the  sentiments  of   the  western  parts  of  the  states  are  not 


LETTEES    AND    PAPERS.  463 

fully  known,  but  no  means  have  been  left  untried  to  prejudice  thera 
against  the  system  ;  every  art  that  could  inflame  the  passions  or  touch 
the  interests  of  men  have  been  essayed ;  the  ignorant  have  been  told 
that,  should  the  proposed  government  obtain,  their  lands  would  be 
taken  from  them  and  their  property  disposed  of  ;  and  all  ranks  are  in- 
formed that  the  prohibition  of  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  (their 
favorite  object)  will  be  a  certain  consequence  of  the  adoption  of  the 
constitution.  But,  notwithstanding  these  unfair  and  unjust  represen- 
tations, I  have  the  fullest  confidence  in  its  being  received  in  this  state. 

Ed.  Carrington  to  J.  3Iadtson,  Jr.,  JRichmond,  8  Aj^ril,  178S. 

I  congratulate  you  upon  the  success  which  attended  your  efforts  to 
turn  the  sinners  of  Orange  from  their  wicked  ways.  Powhatan  county, 
from  being  anti,  are  become  entirely  federal. 

Most  of  the  elections  in  the  upper  and  middle  parts  of  the  south 
side  of  James  river  have  been  made  in  frenzy,  and  terminated  in  dep- 
utations of  weak  and  bad  men,  who  have  bound  themselves  to  vote 
in  the  negative,  and  will,  in  all  cases,  be  the  tools  of  Mr.  Henry. 

I  have  had  much  conversation  with  the  chief  justice.  He  dislikes 
the  constitution,  but  dreads  the  consequences  of  a  disunion  so  much 
that  he  is  determined  to  place  us  in  no  situation  which  shall  in  the 
least  degree  hazard  such  an  event. 

Charles  Lee  to  Washington,  Richmond,  IJf.  A^nil,  17S8. 
"With  regard  to  the  proposed  constitution,  it  seems  that  the  news- 
papers have  mispublished  the  delegates  from  Kentucky,  and  the  gov- 
ernor informs  me  that  they  are  to  a  man  opposed  to  it.     He  seems  to 
be  fixing  in  favor  of  it. 

Cgrus  Griffin  to  JIadison,  New  Tori;  IJ/.  April,  1788.     Ex. 
In  point  of  virtues  and  real  abilities  the  federal  members  are  much 
superior.     Henry  is  mighty  and  powerful,  but  too  interested  ;  Mason 
too  passionate,  the  governor  by  nature  timid  and  undecided,  and  Gray- 
son too  blustering. 

Samuel  H.  Parsons  to  Washington,  Carlisle,  21  April,  1788.     Ex. 

I  am  now  on  my  road  to  the  settlements  forming  on  the  river 
Ohio  ;  and  take  this  only  method  in  my  power  to  take  leave  of  your 
Excellency,  and  to  assure  you  of  my  most  coi'dial  wishes  for  your 


464  APPENDIX. 

happiness.  I  view  the  adoption  of  the  present  plan  with  all  its  imper- 
fections as  the  only  means  of  preserving  the  union  of  the  states  and 
securing  the  happiness  of  all  the  parts  of  this  extensive  country  ;  I 
feel  myself  deeply  interested  in  this  subject,  as  it  will  affect  the  coun- 
try of  which  I  am  now  commencing  an  inhabitant.  I  am  sure  it  must 
ever  be  our  interest  to  continue  connected  with  the  Atlantic  states. 
Our  new  settlement  progresses  rapidly  ;  two  hundred  families  will  be 
within  our  city  by  July,  and  I  think  we  are  sure  of  a  thousand  fami- 
lies from  Xew  England  within  one  year  if  we  remain  in  peace. 

Ed.  Carrinfjton  to  J.  3Iadison,  New  York,  23  April,  1788.     Ex. 

The  business  of  the  constitution,  as  referred  to  the  town  meetings 
of  Rhode  Island,  is  over  without  producing  any  effect.  Three  of  the 
towns  were  decidedly  for  calling  on  the  legislature  to  appoint  a  con- 
vention according  to  the  mode  prescribed,  and  this  it  seems  from 
friendly  views  to  the  measure. 

The  remaining  towns  have  done  nothing  decisive  of  their  senti- 
ments. A  few  of  them  have  apparently  voted  against  it,  but  it  is  said, 
and  I  believe  with  truth,  that  the  reason  votes  do  not  appear  in  favor, 
is  that  the  friends  objected  so  dii'ectly  against  the  mode  of  jDroceeding 
that  they  would  not  act  at  all.  In  some  others  there  are  votes  both 
for  and  against,  and  at  the  same  time  propositions  for  insisting  on  the 
legislatures  calling  a  convention.  Upon  the  whole,  it  is  a  perfectly 
decided  matter  that  Rhode  Island  will  not  be  among  the  adopting 
states  by  June. 

"We  have  no  congress,  but  it  is  expected  we  shall  have  one  in  a 
few  days.     This  is  a  trifling  business,  which  I  long  to  see  an  end  of. 

E.  Carrington  to  Jefferson,  Kew  York,  2Jt.  April,  1788.  Ex. 
In  New  York  and  Virginia  very  active  opposition  is  made,  and  the 
event  is  uncertain  ;  in  the  latter  it  will  depend  much  xipon  the  ideas 
entertained  in  convention  as  to  the  issue  in  New  Hampshire,  whose 
reassembling  is  to  be  after  the  meeting  in  Virginia.  I  am  certain  that 
a  great  majority  of  our  convention  will  be  for  adopting,  upon  being 
ascertained  that  nine  states  will  adopt,  as  much  worse  apprehensions 
are  held  from  the  event  of  a  disunion  than  from  anything  that  is  in 
the  constitution.  We  have  a  party  that  is  truly  anti-federal,  headed 
by  Mr.  Henry,  but  it  will  be  limited  to  a  few,,  unless  the  federalists 
Avho  arc  for  amendments  should,  from  a  mistaken  view  of  the  proba- 


LETTEES   AND   PAPEES.  465 

bility  of  the  measures  being  carried  into  effect  by  nine  states,  be  drawn 
into  steps  favoring  the  anti-federal  scheme.  Mr.  H,  does  not  openly 
declare  for  a  dismemberment  of  the  union,  but  his  arguments  in  sup- 
port of  his  opposition  to  the  constitution  go  directly  to  that  issue. 
He  says  that  three  confederacies  would  be  practicable,  and  better 
suited  to  the  good  of  commerce  than  one.  God  forbid  that  I  should 
ever  see  the  trial  made.  Virginia  would  fall  into  a  division  from 
which  she  might  add  to  her  burdens,  but  could  never  derive  aid  of 
any  kind. 

It  would  have  afforded  me  much  pleasure  to  have  seen  your  senti- 
ments fully  upon  this  subject,  but,  Mr.  Madison  having  gone  to  Vir- 
ginia before  my  return  to  this  city,  I  have  not  seen  your  letter  to  him 
as  yet. 

I  feel  sensibly  for  your  situation  with  our  numerous  and  too  justly 
discontented  foreign  creditors,  nor  do  I  see  a  prospect  of  relief  before 
the  new  government  shall  get  into  operation,  which  must  still  require 
some  time. 

Washington  to  James  McHenry,  27  April,  1788.     Ex. 

As  you  are  pleased  to  ask  my  opinion  of  the  consequences  of  an 
adjournment  of  your  convention  until  the  meeting  of  ours,  I  shall 
(though  I  have  meddled  very  little  in  this  political  dispute — less,  per- 
haf)s,  than  a  man  so  thoroughly  persuaded  as  I  am  of  the  evils  and 
confusions  which  will  result  fi'om  the  rejection  of  the  proposed  consti- 
tution ought  to  have  done)  give  it  as  my  sincere  and  decided  opinion 
that  the  postponement  of  the  question  would  be  tantamount  to  the 
final  rejection  of  it ;  that  the  adversaries  of  the  new  constitution,  Vir- 
ginia and  Maryland,  view  it  in  this  light,  and  they  will  press  for  the 
accomplishment  of  this  measure  as  the  dernier  resort,  I  have  very  good 
reason  to  believe.  To  adduce  arguments  in  support  of  this  opinion  is 
as  unnecessary  as  they  would  be  prolix.  They  are  obvious,  and  will 
occur  to  you  on  a  moment's  reflection. 

Though  the  period  to  which  the  adjournment  in  New  Hampshire 
was  fixed  had  no  respect  to  the  meeting  of  the  convention  in  this  state, 
but  was  the  effect  solely  of  local  circumstances  within  itself,  yet  tlie 
opposition  here  ascribe  it  wholly  to  complaisance  toward  Virginia, 
make  great  use  of  it,  and  undertake  to  pronounce  that  all  the  states 
thereafter,  whose  conventions  were  to  precede  hers,  M'ill  pursue  the 
same  line  of  conduct,  and,  of  course,  that  those  which  are  to  follow 
VOL.  II.  30 


466  APPENDIX. 

■vrill  receive  the  tone  from  it.  Should  Maryland  fulfil  this  prognostic, 
South  Carolina  may  indeed  be  staggered,  and  the  prediction  of  the 
foes  to  the  constitution  -svill  thereby  be  realized  ;  for  the  assertion,  so 
far  as  it  respects  North  Carolina,  may  with  some  truth,  I  believe,  be 
applied,  while  the  opposition  in  New  York,  it  is  well  known,  will  avail 
itself  of  every  pretext  for  rejection. 

The  sentiments  of  the  western  district  of  this  state  are  not  yet 
brought  to  my  view.  Independently  thereof  the  majority,  so  far  as 
the  oj^inions  of  the  delegates  are  known  or  presumed,  is  in  favor  of 
the  adoption  and  is  increasing ;  but  as  the  parties,  from  report,  are 
pretty  equally  poised,  a  small  matter  cast  into  either  scale  would  give 
it  the  preponderancy.  Decisions  or  indecisions  then  with  you  will,  in 
my  opinion,  determine  the  fate  of  the  constitution,  and  with  it  whether 
peace  and  happiness  or  discord  and  confusion  is  to  be  our  lot.  The 
federalists  here  see  and  deprecate  the  idea  of  the  latter,  and  their  op- 
ponents are  doing  all  they  can  to  encourage  it,  as  their  last  hope. 
Thus  stands  the  matter  in  my  eyes  at  present. 

Washington  to  Dan.  of  St.  Thomas  Jewfer,  3Iount  Yer7xon,  27 

Ajyril,  1788. 

Dear  Sik  :  Accept  my  thanks  for  the  obliging  information  contained 
in  your  letter  of  the  fifteenth  instant.  The  great,  the  important  ques- 
tion must  ere  this  have  received  its  first  featui'es  in,  iJ^  not  the  fiat  of, 
your  convention. 

If  they  are  decisive  and  favorable,  it  will  most  assuredly  raise  the 
edifice.  Seven  affirmative,  without  a  negative,  carries  weight  with 
them  that  would  almost  convert  the  unerring  sister,  and  yet — but  in 
place  of  what  I  was  going  to  add — I  will  say  that  I  am,  dear  sir,  etc. 

Dan.  Carroll  to  3Iaclison,  Georgetown,  28  Ajjril,  1788.     Ex. 

If  the  Anne  Arundel  county  election  had  not  taken  the  extraordinary 
turn  it  difl,  I  may  say  with  certainty  there  would  not  have  been  a  show 
of  opposition.     Perhaps  the  adoption  would  have  been  unanimous. 

Georgetown^  eod.  die. — I  am  just  informed,  from  good  authority, 
that  the  question  was  taken  on  Saturday  evening.  The  constitution 
adopted  by  sixty-three  against  eleven.  No  amendments  will  be  pro- 
posed, even  in  the  constitutional  manner.  Great  illuminations  have 
taken  place  at  Annapolis,  the  members  having  jgiven  one  guinea  for 
that  purpose. 


LETTERS    AXD    PAPERS.  ,  467 


Gouverneur  Morris  to  Washington,  Richmond,  29  April,  1788. 
It  may  not  be  quite  unsatisfactory  to  receive  even  conjecture  on  a 
subject  whose  importance  is  great  and  when  situation  precludes  evi- 
dence. As  far  as  one  who  avoids  much  enquiry  can  judge,  I  am  led 
to  decide  that  the  opposers  to  the  new  constitution  are  fewer  and 
more  feeble  than  they  were  in  this  quarter,  and  would  almost  venture 
to  predict  that,  if  South  Carolina  and  Maryland  shall  be  tolerably 
unanimous  in  the  adoption,  particularly  the  latter,  the  convention  of 
this  state  will  not  long  hesitate.  I  am  mistaken  if  some  leaders  of 
opposition  are  not  more  solicitous  in  the  present  moment  how  to  make 
a  good  retreat  than  how  to  fight  the  battle.  It  is,  you  know,  a  sad 
thing  for  a  great  and  deep  politician  to  make  a  great  blunder,  and  fall 
in  a  deep  ditch,  and  yet  this  may  easily  happen  when  men  walk  on  bad 
ground.     Adieu. 

Washington  to  Madison,  Mount  Yernon,  2  May,  1788.  Ex. 
The  bod}^  of  which  you  supposed  Mr.  D.  Carroll  a  member,  by  a 
large  [60  odd  to  12]  and  decided  majority,  have  ratified  the  new  con- 
stitution. A  thorn  in  the  sides  of  the  leaders  of  opposition  in  this  state. 
Should  South  Carolina  give  as  unequivocal  approbation  of  the  system, 
the  opposition  here  must  become  feeble,  for  eight  affirmatives  with- 
out a  negative  carries  weight  of  argument  if  not  eloquence  with  it  that 
would  cause  even  the  unerring  sister  to  hesitate.  Mr.  Chase,  it  is  said, 
made  a  display  of  all  his  eloquence.  Mr.  Mercer  discharged  his  whole 
artillery  of  inflammable  matter  ;  and  Mr.  Martin  \sic\  I  know  not 
what — perhaps  vehemence — but  no  converts  were  made,  no,  not  one, 
so  business  after  a  very  short  session  ended  ;  and  will,  if  I  mistake 
not,  render  j'^ours  less  tiresome. 

John  Langdon  to  liufm  King,  Portsmouth,  6  May,  1788. 
My  dear  Sir  :  I  am  honored  with  your  kind  favor  of  the  sixteenth 
ultimo,  enclosing  the  address  to  the  people  of  New  York,  which  is 
greatly  admired  here.  I  shall  take  great  care  to  circulate  this  and  all 
other  pieces  that  will  give  light  to  the  subject.  You  may  depend 
every  exertion  shall  be  made  that  is  capable  to  promote  the  adop- 
tion of  the  constitution,  and  I  have  no  doubt,  notwithstanding  our 
late  disappointments  and  mortification,  we  shall  finally  prevail  and 
thereby  make  the  people  happy  in  spite  of  their  teeth,  as  the  saying 


468  APPENDIX. 

is.  I  think  affairs  to  the  south  look  well.  Maryland  will  certainly 
adopt  the  plan,  and  I  have  but  little  doubt  of  South  Carolina.  We 
must  watch  and  pray  for  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  I  cannot  help 
thinking  but  they  will  both  agree  to  it.  New  York  and  New  Hamp- 
shire must  agree  to  the  plan,  which  will  complete  our  business. 

The  state  of  Georgia  ceding  that  territory  to  the  United  States  under 
certain  restrictions  will  have  very  good  effect.  Pray  make  my  kind  re- 
spects to  your  lady,  not  forgetting  the  little  bantling,  also  my  respects 
to  Mr.  Alsop. 

Carrington  to  Jefferson,  Neio  York,  IJ/.  May,  1788.  Ex. 
My  dear  Sir  :  Mr,  Barlow,  of  Connecticut,  will  have  the  honor  to 
call  on  you  with  this  letter.  I  have  not  the  pleasure  of  a  j^ersonal  ac- 
quaintance with  him,  but  his  literary  talents  have  considerably  distin- 
guished him  as  a  poetical  as  well  as  prose  writer,  and  he  is  introduced 
to  me  as  a  gentleman  deserving  your  countenance  ;  permit  me  to 
recommend  him  to  your  attention  and  civilities.  He  conducts  to  the 
Marquis  de  Lafayette  the  eldest  son  of  our  illustrious  friend  General 
Greene,  who  is  sent  at  the  particular  request  of  that  noble  man  to 
receive  his  education  under  his  direction  in  France.  I  have  given  the 
little  fellow  a  few  lines  to  you,  and  directed  him  to  deliver  them  in 
person ;  it  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  solicit  for  him  the  attention  of  one 
who  so  well  knew  his  father. 

Doctor  John  Lathrop  to  Washington,  Boston,  16  May,  1788.  Ex. 
We  are  looking  with  vast  expectation  and  hope  to  your  ancient 
and  venerable  state.  Massachusetts,  in  the  most  difficult  and  try- 
ing times,  prided  herself  in  acting  in  strict  concert  with  Virginia ; 
we  hope  to  be  united  with  her  and  all  the  sister  states  in  that 
form  of  government  which,  with  all  its  imperfections,  has  more  to 
recommend  it  than  any  constitution  formed  heretofore  by  the  wis- 
dom of  men. 

McIIenry  to  'Washington,  Baltimore,  18  May,  1788.  Ex. 
You  will  have  concluded,  from  the  address  of  our  minority,  that  the 
convention  were  a  little  embarrassed  on  the  subject  of  amendments. 
A  very  good  friend  of  yours,  for  whom  I  have  the  greatest  respect, 
brouglit  us  into  the  difficulty,  and  we  were  obliged  to  leave  him  to  get 
out  of  it.     The  amendments  were  intended  to  injure  the  cause  of  fed- 


LETTEES    AKD    PAPERS.  469 

eralism  in  your  state,  and,  had  we  agreed  to  thena,  they  were  well  cal- 
culated to  effect  it. 

Knox  to  Washington,  New  York,  25  May,  1788.     Ex. 

In  this  state  it  appears  to  be  conceded  on  the  part  of  the  federalists 
that  numbers  will  be  against  them  in  the  convention,  but  they  hope  so 
many  states  will  previously  have  adopted  the  constitution  that  they 
shall  prevail.  It  is,  however,  doubtful.  The  party  against  it  in  this 
state  are  united  under  the  auspices  of  the  governor,  and  he  is  supposed 
to  be  immovable,  and  yet  one  would  think  they  could  not  persist  in  an 
opposition  fraught  with  the  most  deadly  consequences.  The  elections 
will  be  known  in  a  few  days,  when  a  better  judgment  will  be  formed 
than  at  present. 

Colonel  Smith  has  lately  arrived  from  England,  and  informs  that 
Dr.  Price  and  all  the  friends  of  liberty  in  Great  Britain  highly  approve 
the  constitution,  and  ardently  wish  its  adoption.  Mr.  John  Adams, 
who  probably  has  arrived  in  Massachusetts,  is  exceedingly  pleased 
with  it,  and  thinks  it  the  first  production  ever  offered  to  the  human 
race.  It  is  spoken  of  by  the  English  ministry  as  an  admirable  form  of 
government,  and  which,  if  adopted,  will  place  the  American  character 
in  a  new  point  of  view  highly  deserving  respect. 

Cyrus  Griffin,  President  of  Congress,  to  Tliomas  Fitzsimons,  JVeio 
York,  26  May,  1788.     Ex. 

Messrs.  Jefferson  and  Adams  have  been  able  to  borrow  for  the 
United  States  another  million  of  florins  in  Holland,  upon  the  prospect 
of  the  new  constitution  being  established  ;  but,  as  congress  have  not 
yet  ratified  the  contract,  it  may  remain  with  you. 

Mr.  Jefferson  seems  to  think  that  the  war  in  Europe  will  be  general, 
but  no  positive  judgment  can  be  drawn  from  such  a  chaos  of  politics 
as  that  part  of  the  world  now  exhibits. 

The  British  courtiers  are  ridiculing  our  situation  very  much,  and  tell 
Mr.  Adams,  in  a  sneering  manner,  when  America  shall  assume  some 
kind  of  government,  then  England  will  speak  to  her. 

Washington  to  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette,  Mount  Vernon,  28  May, 

1788.     Ex. 
A  few  short  weeks  will  determine  the  political  fate  of  America  for 
the  present  generation,  and  probably  produce  no  small  influence  on 


470  APPENDIX. 

the  happiness  of  society  through  a  long  succession  of  ages  to  come. 
Should  everything  proceed  with  harmony  and  consent,  according  to 
our  actual  wishes  and  expectations,  I  will  confess  to  you  sincerely,  ray 
dear  marquis,  it  will  be  so  much  beyond  anything  we  had  a  right  to 
imagine  or  expect  eighteen  months  ago,  that  it  wall  demonstrate  as 
visibly  the  finger  of  Providence  as  any  possible  event  in  the  course  of 
human  aifairs  can  ever  designate  it.  It  is  impracticable  for  you,  or 
any  one  who  has  not  been  on  the  spot,  to  realize  the  change  in  men's 
minds,  and  the  progress  toward  rectitude  in  thinking  and  acting,  which 
will  then  have  been  made. 

Adieu,  my  dear  marquis.  I  hope  your  affairs  in  France  will  subside 
into  a  prosperous  train  without  coming  to  any  violent  crisis. 

President   Griffin    to    Thomas   Fitzsimons,    JSTcio   Tori:,    16   June, 

1788.  Ex. 

I  am  not  a  little  happy  that  the  important  business  of  the  proposed 
constitution  is  going  on  so  well  in  Virginia.  Governor  Randolph's 
recantation,  though  embarrassing  enough  with  resj)ect  to  himself,  may 
produce  some  pleasing  consequences. 

New  Hampshire  will  certainly  adopt  the  system.  About  two  thirds 
of  this  state  are  at  present  in  opposition — but  the  federal  members  ex- 
pect to  convert  a  great  number — and,  from  good  authority,  I  am  told 
that  Governor  Clinton  thinks  it  absolutely  necessary  that  New  York 
should  adopt  the  measure  also.  Governor  Collins  and  some  of  the 
leading  men  of  Rhode  Island  are  advocates  for  the  plan  now.  From 
the  appearance  of  things,  taken  altogether,  we  have  good  reason  to 
conclude  that  the  union  will  be  complete. 

Ed.  Carrington  to  Madison,  New  York,  17  June,  1788. 

"We  may  calculate  with  certainty  upon  a  considerable  majority, 
from  the  facts  you  communicate.  It  is  impossible  that  the  present 
critical  state  of  the  business,  and  the  consequent  responsibility  of 
Virginia  to  humanity  for  her  conduct  under  such  circumstances, 
should  not  have  inclined  most  of  the  opposition,  who  can  discern 
the  hazard  of  persevering,  to  follow  Governor  Randolph  in  taking 
the  other  side. 

The  convention  of  New  York  is  now  assembling  at  Poughkeepsie. 
The  anti-federalists,  who  are  indeed  the  majority,  have  received  a 
shock  from  the  accounts  from  Virginia. 


LETTEES   AND   PAPERS.  471 


Jonathan  Trumbull  to  Washington,  20  June,  17S8.  Ex. 
The  triumph  of  federalism  has  been  great  in  Connecticut  since  last 
winter.  The  opposition  which  then  existed  is  now  dwindled  into 
mere  unimportance.  At  our  late  elections — which  you  know,  sir,  are 
formed  by  the  people  at  large — a  General  Wadsworth,  who  was  the 
champion  of  opposition  in  our  convention,  lost  his  place  as  an  assistant 
by  great  odds.  His  seat  at  the  council  board  was  filled  by  Colonel 
Chester,  late  speaker  of  our  house  of  assembly — a  gentleman  of  inde- 
pendent, liberal  sentiments,  and  a  firm  friend  to  general  government. 
Your  old  secretary  being  placed  in  the  speaker's  chair,  on  the  removal 
of  Colonel  Chester,  is  an  additional  blow  to  opposition  ;  and  he  being 
considered  as  a  warm  supporter  of  the  federal  interest,  a  fast  friend  to 
the  army  and  to  public  justice,  this  event  had  its  influence  toward 
completing  the  triumph. 

John  Lanrjdon  to  Rufus  King,  Concord,  21  June,  1788. 
Dear  Sir  :  The  state  of  New  Hampshire  have  this  moment  adopted 
the  federal  constitution  ;  fifty-seven  yeas,  forty-six  nays.  I  have  sent 
on  the  express  to  Springfield,  to  Mr.  Smith,  to  forward  Colonel  Hamil- 
ton's letter  to  Poughkeepsie,  which  I  enclosed  him.  Excuse  haste. 
Believe  me  yours,  etc. 

John  Langdon  to  Hamilton,  Concord,  21  June,  1788. 

Dear  Sir  :  By  the  desire  of  our  mutual  friend,  Rufus  King,  Esq., 
I  have  the  great  pleasure  and  satisfaction  of  informing  you  that  this 
state  has  this  day  adopted  the  federal  constitution.  This  all-important 
question  was  carried  by  a  majority  of  eleven — fifty-seven  yeas,  forty- 
six  nays.     Excuse  haste. 

P.  S. — This  letter  goes  to  Springfield  by  an  express,  which  I  have 
sent  for  this  purpose,  to  the  care  of  William  Smith,  Esq.,  of  that  place, 
who  is  to  forward  it  to  you. 

Washington  to  3Iadison,  23  June,  1788.  Ex. 
I  hear  with  real  concern  of  your  indisposition.  At  Fredericksburg 
(on  a  visit  to  my  aged  and  infirm  mother)  I  learned  that  you  intended 
to  proceed  immediately  from  Richmond  to  New  York.  Relaxation 
must  have  become  indispensably  necessary  for  your  health,  and  for 
that  reason  I  presume  to  advise  you  to  take  a  little  respite  from  busi- 


4  <  2  APPEXDIX. 

ness,  and  to  express  a  wish  that  part  of  the  time  might  be  spent  under 
this  roof  in  your  way  thither.  Moderate  exercise,  and  books  occasion- 
ally, with  the  mind  unbent,  will  be  your  best  restoratives.  I  can  as- 
sure you,  with  much  truth,  that  none  will  be  happier  to  see  you  than 
yours,  etc. 

Gen.  Schuyler  to  his  son,  John  Bradstreet  Schuyler,  Pourjhkeepsie^ 
Thursday,  26  June,  1788.     Ex. 

My  dear  Child  :  The  adoption  of  the  constitution  by  New  Hamp- 
shire, although  it  will  be  the  means  of  ultimately  bringing  this  state 
into  the  union,  and  although  it  has  disappointed  the  expectations  of 
those  who  are  averse  to  the  constitution,  yet  I  have  no  reason  to  con- 
clude that  it  is  attended  with  such  effect  as  to  induce  the  convention 
to  adopt  the  constitution  otherwise  than  with  previous  amendments. 
Perhaps  they  may  adjourn  under  pretence  of  taking  the  sense  of  their 
constituents,  but  this  is  very  jDroblematicah 

The  debates  are  not  yet  published  ;  when  they  shall  be  promulgated 
and  read,  the  candid  will  acknowledge  that  those  of  the  Chancellor, 
Messrs.  Jay,  Harrison,  and  Hamilton  ought  to  have  carried  conviction. 
Mr.  Duane  has  not  yet  spoken,  but  he  also  will  do  justice  to  the  cause. 
Though  all  are  eloquent,  yet  Hamilton  [MS.  worn  away]  ad  his  senti- 
ments are  so  true,  his  judgment  so  correct,  his  elocution  so  pleasing, 
so  smooth,  and  yet  so  [forcible],  that  he  reaches  the  heart  and  carries 
conviction,  where  every  avenue  to  conviction  is  [not]  shut  up.  Alas  ! 
I  fear  there  are  too  many  who  labor  under  this  prejudice. 

J.  B.  Cutting  to  Thos.  Jefferson,  London,  11  July,  1788.  Ex. 
It  is  not  a  solecism  to  sny  that  the  opposition  to  a  thorough  reform 
of  the  federal  government  began  in  Maryland,  even  before  the  agita- 
tion of  the  question  in  the  general  convention  at  Philadelphia.  Mr. 
Martin,  the  attorney-general,  who  was  primarily  appointed  to  that 
office  by  Mr.  Chase,  was  by  the  same  influence  deputed  to  represent 
the  state.  After  Messrs.  Carroll,  Johnson,  etc.,  etc.,  the  first  choice  of 
the  legislature  declined  quitting  Maryland  even  upon  the  important 
business  of  newly  framing  the  national  government,  Mr.  Chase  having 
just  before  menaced  the  senate  for  rejecting  a  wide  emission  of  paper 
money,  and  appealed  to  the  people  against  them.  They  had  joined  in 
that  general  issue,  and  could  not  venture  to  relinquish  to  a  violent  and 
headstrong  party  their  active  influence  in  the  senate  as  well  as  in  the 


LETTERS    AISTD    PAPEES.  473 

lower  house,  at  tbe  very  moment  when  it  was  so  essentially  needed  to 
stem  the  torrent  of  the  populace  for  the  paper.  Those  gentlemen, 
therefore,  remained  at  home,  convinced  their  fellow-citizens  of  their 
superior  rectitude  and  wisdom,  and  defeated  that  favorite  measure  of 
Mr,  Chase.  Meanwhile,  Mr.  Martin,  and  Mr.  John  F.  Mercer,  a  young 
gentleman  whom  you  well  know,  went  to  the  general  convention,  op- 
posed the  great  leading  features  of  the  plan  which  was  afterward  pro- 
mulged,  withdrew  themselves  from  any  signature  of  it,  and  from  the 
moment  when  it  was  proposed  for  ratification  in  conjunction  with  Mr. 
Chase,  and  his  sure  coadjutor,  Mr,  Paca,  exerted  every  effort  to  hinder 
its  adoption. 

I  have  also  enclosed,  for  the  same  purpose  of  amusing,  the  manly 
proceeding  of  a  Virginia  court  of  appeals.  Without  knowing  the  par- 
ticular merits  of  the  cause,  I  may  venture  to  applaud  the  integrity  of 
judges  who  thus  fulfil  their  oaths  and  their  duties,  I  am  proud  of 
such  characters.  They  exalt  themselves  and  their  country,  while  they 
maintain  the  principles  of  the  constitution  of  Virginia  and  manifest 
the  unspotted  probity  of  its  judiciary  department.  I  hope  you  will 
not  think  me  too  local  or  statically  envious  when  I  mention  that  a 
similar  instance  has  occurred  in  Massachusetts,  where,  when  the  legis- 
lature unintentionally  trespassed  upon  a  barrier  of  the  constitution, 
the  judges  of  the  supreme  court  solemnly  determined  that  the  particu- 
lar statute  was  unconstitutional.  In  the  very  next  session  there  was 
a  formal  and  unanimous  repeal  of  the  law  which,  perhaps,  was  un- 
necessary. 

Monroe  to  Jefferson,  FredericJcshurg,  12  July,  1788.  Ex. 
Dear  Sir  :  Although  I  am  persuaded  you  will  have  received  the 
proceedings  of  our  convention  upon  the  plan  of  government  submitted 
from  Philadelphia,  yet  as  it  is  possible  this  may  reach  you  sooner  than 
other  communications,  I  herewith  enclose  a  copy  to  you.  They  termi- 
nated, as  you  will  find,  in  a  ratification  which  must  be  considered,  so 
far  as  a  reservation  of  certain  rights  go,  as  conditioned  with  the  rec- 
ommendation of  subsequent  amendments.  The  copy  will  designate  to 
you  the  part  which  different  gentlemen  took  upon  this  very  interesting 
and  important  subject.  The  detail  in  the  management  of  the  business, 
from  your  intimate  knowledge  of  characters,  you  perhaps  possess  with 
great  accuracy,  without  a  formal  narration  of  it.  Pendleton,  though 
much  impaired  in  health,  and  in  every  respect  in  the  decline  of  life. 


474  APPENDIX. 

showed  as  much  zeal  to  carry  it  as  if  he  had  been  a  young  man.  Per« 
haps  more  than  he  discovered  in  the  commencement  of  the  late  revolu- 
tion in  his  opposition  to  Great  Britain.  Wythe  acted  as  chairman  to 
the  committee  of  the  whole,  and,  of  course,  took  but  little  part  in  the 
debate,  but  was  for  the  adoption,  relying  on  subsequent  amendments. 
Blair  said  nothing,  but  was  for  it.  The  governor  exhibited  a  curious 
spectacle  to  view  ;  having  refused  to  sign  the  paper,  everybody  sup- 
posed him  against  it ;  but  he  afterward  had  written  a  letter,  and  hav- 
ing taken  a  part  which  might  be  called  rather  vehement  than  active, 
he  was  constantly  laboring  to  show  that  his  present  [position  was] 
consistent  with  that  letter  and  the  letter  with  his  refusal  to  sign. 
Madison  took  the  principal  share  in  the  debate  for  it,  in  which,  to- 
gether with  the  aid  I  have  already  mentioned,  he  was  somewhat  as- 
sisted by  Innes,  H.  Lee,  Marshal,  Corbin,  and  A.  Nicholas,  as  Mason, 
Henry,  and  Grayson  were  the  principal  supporters  of  the  opposition. 

The  discussion,  as  might  have  been  expected  where  the  parties  were 
so  nearly  on  a  balance,  was  conducted  generally  with  great  order,  pro- 
priety, and  respect  of  either  party  to  the  others,  and  its  event  was 
accompanied  with  no  circumstance  on  the  part  of  the  victorious  that 
was  extraordinary  exultation,  nor  of  depression  on  the  part  of  the  un- 
fortunate. There  was  no  bonfire  illumination,  etc.,  and  had  there  been, 
I  am  inclined  to  believe  the  opposition  would  have  not  only  expressed 
no  dissatisfaction,  but  have  scarcely  felt  any  at  it,  for  they  seemed  to 
be  governed  by  principles  elevated  highly  above  circumstances  so 
trivial  and  transitory  in  their  nature. 

The  conduct  of  General  Washington  on  this  occasion  has  no  doubt 
been  right  and  meritorious  ;  all  pai'ties  had  acknowledged  defects  in 
the  federal  system,  and  been  sensible  of  the  propriety  of  some  material 
change.  To  forsake  the  honorable  retreat  to  which  he  had  retired  and 
risk  the  reputation  he  had  so  deservedly  acquired,  manifested  a  zeal 
for  the  public  interest  that  could,  after  so  many  and  illustrious  services, 
and  at  this  stage  of  life,  scarcely  have  been  expected  from  him.  Hav- 
ing, however,  commenced  again  on  the  public  theatre,  the  course  which 
he  takes  becomes  not  only  highly  interesting  to  him,  but  likewise  so 
to  us  ;  the  human  character  is  not  perfect,  and  if  he  partakes  of  those 
qualities  which  we  have  too  much  reason  to  believe  are  almost  insepa- 
rable from  the  frail  nature  of  our  being,  the  people  of  America  will 
perhaps  be  lost.  Be  assured  his  influence  carried  this  government. 
For  my  own  part,  I  have  a  boundless  confidence  in  him,  nor  have  I  any 


LETTERS    AND    PAPEES.  475 

reason  to  believe  he  will  ever  furnish  occasion  for  -svithclrawing  it. 
More  is  to  be  apprehended  if  he  takes  a  part  in  the  public  councils 
ao-ain,  as  he  advances  in  age,  from  the  designs  of  those  around  him 
than  from  any  dispositions  of  his  own. 

In  the  discussion,  an  allusion  was  made,  I  believe,  in  the  first  instance 
by  Mr.  Henry  to  an  opinion  you  had  given  on  this  subject  in  a  letter 
to  Mr.  Donald.  This  afterward  became  the  subject  of  much  enquiry 
and  debate  in  the  house  as  to  the  construction  of  the  contents  of  such 
letter,  and  I  was  happy  to  find  the  great  attention  and  universal  re- 
spect with  which  the  opinion  was  treated,  as  well  as  the  great  regard 
and  high  estimation  in  which  the  author  of  it  was  held. 

Nathaniel  Oorham  to  Washington,  21  July,  17SS.     Ex. 

The  adoption  of  the  constitution  by  Virginia  has  diffused  in  general 
a  joy  through  the  other  states. 

Although  I  am  passing  rapidly  into  the  vale  of  years,  and  shall  live 
to  see  but  a  small  portion  of  the  happy  effects  which  I  am  confident 
this  system  will  produce  for  my  country,  yet  the  precious  idea  of  its 
prosperity  will  not  only  be  a  consolation  amid  the  increasing  infirmi- 
ties of  nature  and  the  growing  love  of  retirement,  but  it  will  tend  to 
soothe  the  mind  in  the  inevitable  hour  of  separation  from  terrestrial 
objects. 

John  Jay  to  Washington,  PoxighTceepsie,  23  July,  17SS.  Ex. 
Dear  Sir  :  I  wrote  to  you  a  few  days  ago  and  enclosed  a  copy  of 
certain  propositions,  or  mode  of  adoption.  Great  objections  to  it  be- 
ing urged,  it  was  withdrawn  for  the  present.  The  convention  pro- 
ceeded to-day  in  debating  on  the  plan  of  conditional  amendment. 
Some  of  the  anti-party  moved  for  striking  out  the  words  oyi  condition 
and  substituting  the  words  in  full  confidence  ;  it  was  carried  thirty- 
one  to  twenty-nine  in  the  committee,  so  that,  if  nothing  new  should 
occur,  this  state  will  adopt  unconditionally  ;  the  party,  however,  mean 
to  rally  their  forces  and  endeavor  to  regain  that  ground. 

Washington  to  General  Nelson,  3Iount  Vernon,  3  Aug.,  17S8.     Ex. 

My  dear  Sir  :  Far,  very  far  indeed,  was  it  from  my  intention  to 

embarrass  you  by  the  letters  which  enclosed  the  proceedings  of  the 

general  convention,  and  still  farther  was  it  from  my  wish  that  the 

communication  should  be  received  in  any  other  light  than  as  an  iu 


476  APPENDIX. 

stance  of  my  attention  and  friendship.  I  vras  well  aware  that  the 
adojition  or  rejection  of  the  constitution  would  be,  as  it  ought  to  be, 
decided  upon  according  to  its  merits,  and  agreeably  to  the  circum- 
stances to  which  our  public  affairs  had  arrived.  That  all  questions  of 
this  kind  are,  ever  will,  and  perhaps  ought  to  be  (to  accomplish  the 
designs  of  infinite  wisdom),  viewed  through  different  mediums  by  dif- 
ferent men,  is  as  certain  as  that  they  have  existence  ;  all  that  can  be 
expected  in  such  cases,  therefore,  is  charity,  mutual  forbearance,  and 
acquiescence  in  the  general  voice  ;  which,  though  it  may  be  wrong,  is 
presumably  right. 

Washingt07i  to  Dr.  James  Crail:,  Mount  Vernon,  4  Aug.,  1788. 

Deak  Sir  :  "With  this  letter  you  will  receive  the  horse  I  promised 
you,  and  which  I  now  beg  your  acceptance  of.  He  is  not  in  such 
good  order  as  I  could  wish,  but  as  good  as  my  means  would  place 
him. 

I  also  send  you  thirty  pounds  cash  for  one  year's  allowance  for  the 
schooling  of  your  son,  G,  W.  I  wish  it  was  in  my  power  to  send  the 
like  sum  for  the  other  year,  which  is  now  about  or  near  due ;  and 
that  I  could  discharge  your  account  for  attendance  and  ministries  to 
the  sick  of  my  family,  but  it  really  is  not ;  for  with  much  truth  I  can 
say  I  never  felt  the  want  of  money  so  sensibly  since  I  was  a  boy  of 
fifteen  years  old  as  I  have  done  for  the  last  twelve  months,  and  prob- 
ably shall  do  for  twelve  months  more  to  come.  Sincerely  and  affec- 
tionately, I  am  yours. 

Jefferson  to  Monroe,  9  Aug.,  1788.  Ex. 
There  is  another  article  of  which  I  have  no  hopes  of  amendment, 
because  I  do  not  find  it  objected  to  in  the  states.  This  is  the  abandon- 
ment of  the  principle  of  necessary  rotation  in  the  senate  and  presi- 
dency. With  respect  to  the  last  particularly,  it  is  as  universally  con- 
demned in  Europe  as  it  is  universally  unanimadverted  on  in  America. 
I  have  never  heard  a  single  person  here  speak  of  it  without  condemna- 
tion, because,  on  the  supposition  that  a  man  being  once  chosen  will 
be  always  chosen,  he  is  a  king  for  life  ;  and  his  importance  will  pro- 
duce the  same  brigucs  and  cabals,  foreign  and  domestic,  which  the 
election  of  a  king  of  Poland  and  other  elective  monarchies  have  ever 
produced.  So  that  we  must  take  refuge  in  the  end  in  hereditary  mon- 
archy, the  very  evil  which  grinds  to  atoms  the  people  of  Europe. 


LETTERS    AND    PAPERS.  477 

I  sincerely  take  part  with  you  in  your  domestic  felicity.  Tliere  is 
no  other  in  this  world  worth  living  for. 

John  Broxon  to  Jefferson,  N'eio  YorJc,  10  Aug.,  178S. 

Dear  Sie  :  Your  favor  of  the  twenty-eighth  May  came  to  hand  a 
few  days  ago,  for  which  accept  my  warmest  acknowledgments.  I  am 
well  convinced  of  the  justness  of  your  remarks  respecting  the  impor- 
tance of  strengthening  and  maintaining  the  connection  between  the 
district  of  Kentucky  and  the  maritime  states. 

During  my  residence  in  that  country  it  was  my  constant  care  to 
cultivate  that  idea  ;  but  I  am  sorry  to  inform  you  that  fi'om  the  pres- 
ent complexion  of  affairs  there  is  reason  to  apprehend  that  the  connec- 
tion will  not  be  of  long  duration.  Congress  have  rejected  their  appli' 
cation  to  be  admitted  into  the  union  as  an  independent  state,  notwith- 
standing it  was  acknowledged  to  be  reasonable — thinking  it  inexpedient 
in  the  present  state  of  the  confederacy,  and  that  the  admission  of  a 
new  state  might  affect  the  balance  of  power,  unless  Vermont  could  be 
brought  forward  at  the  same  time.  This  will  be  considered  by  the 
people  of  that  country  as  a  great  disappointment,  inasmuch  as  they 
have  been  more  than  three  years  in  bringing  forward  this  application, 
and  as  they  are  now  referred  to  the  new  government,  to  be  admitted 
under  which  in  a  constitutional  mode  must  necessarily  be  attended 
with  considerable  delay.  Their  vast  increase  in  population  (amount- 
ing to  at  least  one  hundred  thousand  souls  in  that  district  alone),  added 
to  the  great  delay  and  difficulty  attending  a  communication  with  the 
seat  of  government,  render  their  connection  with  Virginia  so  burden- 
some that  there  is  every  reason  to  expect  that,  immediately  on  hear- 
ing that  congress  has  refused  to  receive  them,  they  will  assume  their 
independence.  Should  they  take  this  step,  I  think  it  very  proble- 
matical whether  or  not  they  will  apply  for  admission  into  the  new 
confederacy,  especially  as  they  are  generally  opposed  to  the  new 
constitution,  apprehending  much  inconvenience  and  danger  from  the 
judicial  system,  and  fearing  that  the  powers  vested  in  the  general 
government  may  enable  [it]  to  carry  into  effect  the  proposed  treaty 
with  Spain  relative  to  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi.  Indeed, 
the  ill-advised  attemjst  to  cede  the  navigation  of  that  river  has  laid 
the  foundation  for  the  dismemberment  of  the  American  empire  by 
destroying  the  confidence  of  the  peojjle  in  the  western  country  in  the 
justice  of  the  union,  and  by  inducing  them   to  despair  of  obtaining 


478  APPENDIX. 

possession  of  that  right  by  means  of  any  other  exertions  than  their 
own. 

However,  as  we  are  infonned  by  the  governor  of  the  western  terri- 
tory that  there  is  great  reason  to  apprehend  a  general  Indian  war,  I 
hope  that  Kentucky  will  see  the  danger  and  impropriety  of  breaking 
off  from  the  union  at  this  time,  and  that  it  may  still  be  in  the  power 
of  congress  to  conciliate  their  minds  and  to  secure  their  attachment  to 
the  confederacy. 

I  expect  to  set  out  in  a  few  days  for  the  western  coiintry  ;  shall 
take  pleasure  in  communicating  to  you  the  news  of  that  country  by 
every  opportunity.  Should  you  be  so  good  as  to  honor  me  with  a 
letter,  it  will  find  a  ready  conveyance  from  New  York  to  me  by  post. 

Before  I  conclude  this  letter  I  must,  in  justice  to  my  feelings,  ex- 
press my  gratitude  for  the  many  favors  I  have  received  from  you  ;  be 
assured  that  they  have  made  a  lasting  impression  upon  my  mind,  and 
that  it  is,  in  a  great  measure,  to  your  friendship  and  instruction  that  I 
am  indebted  for  my  success  in  life. 

Washington  to  Samuel  Powell,  15  Sept.,  1788. 

Dear  Sir  :  The  present  congress,  by  its  great  indecision  in  fixing 
on  a  place  at  which  the  new  congress  is  to  convene,  have  hung  the 
expectations  and  patience  of  the  union  on  tenter-hooks,  and  thereby 
(if  further  evidence  had  been  necessary)  given  a  fresh  instance  of  the 
unfitness  of  a  body  so  constituted  to  regulate  with  energy  and  preci- 
sion the  affairs  of  such  an  extensive  empire. 

Se2)t.  23J.,  Ex. — I  am  glad  congress  have  at  last  decided  upon  an 
ordinance  for  carrying  the  new  government  into  execution.  The  pa- 
tience of  the  union  was  too  long  tried  for  a  question  of  so  temporary 
a  nature. 

B.  R.  Livingston  to  Lafayette,  Claremont,  17  Sept.,  1788.     Ex. 

In  many  of  the  new^  states  the  new  plan  has  met  wdth  great  opposi- 
tion, and  more  particularly  in  this  where  the  governor  headed  the  op- 
position with  all  the  weight  arising  from  his  office.  However,  after 
six  weeks  laborious  debate,  we  were  happy  enough  to  bring  over  such 
a  numl)or  of  our  opposors  as  to  carry  the  question  for  the  adoption  of 
the  new  constitution  which  has  now  been  acceded  to  by  all  the  states 
but  North  Carolina  and  Rhode  Island,  both  of  which  are  at  present 
convulsed  by  the  ]):ii)er  money  epidemic  of  which  the  other  states  have 


LETTEES    AND    PAPERS.  4V9 

been  so  lately  cured.  The  plan  will  now  be  carried  into  effect,  and  I 
cannot  but  hope  from  it  such  consistency  as  will  give  us  the  weight 
which  our  situation  and  increasing  numbers  entitle  us  to. 

General  Lincoln  to  Washington,  Hingham,  2^  Sei^t.,  1788. 

I  am  prompted  to  wish  that  Mr.  Adams  might  come  in,  from  the 
double  motive  that  from  his  knowledge  and  rectitude  he  will  be  able 
to  render  the  most  essential  services  to  the  United  States,  and  that 
with  him  your  Excellency  will  be  perfectly  happy.  I  am,  however, 
very  apprehensive  that  the  anti-federal  junta  will  attempt  from  sinister 
views  to  prejudice  your  Excellency,  and  to  fix  in  your  mind  the  most 
unfavorable  ideas  of  him,  and  they  will  endeavor  to  persuade  you  that 
the  moment  such  a  connection  shall  take  place,  your  Excellency  must 
bid  adieu  to  all  hope  of  future  happiness  iu  public  life.  Perhaps  these 
apprehensions  are  not  well  founded,  I  hope  they  are  not;  but  when  it 
is  considered  how  dangerous  your  Excellency's  administration  must  be 
to  the  views  of  that  party,  we  cannot  suppose  that  they  will  stick  at 
anything  to  prevent  its  taking  place. 

I  am  happy  in  knowing  Mr.  J.  Adams  ;  my  acquaintance  commenced 
with  him  early  in  life.  Few  men  can  boast  of  equal  abilities  and  infor- 
mation, and  of  so  many  virtues  ;  his  foibles  are  few.  I  am  happy  in 
knowing  his  sentiments  of  your  Excellency  ;  there  is  not  a  virtue  in 
your  character  which  the  most  intimate  of  your  friends  have  discov- 
ered but  it  seems  to  be  known  and  acknowledged  by  him.  I  am,  from 
a  free  conversation  with  him,  as  well  as  from  his  general  character, 
perfectly  convinced  that  there  is  not  a  man  in  this  part  of  the  confed- 
eracy, if  one  can  be  found  through  the  whole  of  it,  who  would  render 
your  Excellency's  situation  at  the  head  of  the  government  more  agree- 
able, or  who  would  make  it  more  his  study  that  your  administration 
should  be  honorable  to  yourself,  and  permanently  interesting  to  the 
people. 

Monroe  to  3ridison,  Fredericksburg,  34.  Sejjt.,  1788.  Ex. 
I  perfectly  agree  in  the  propriety  of  yielding  to  the  majority  respect- 
ing the  place  of  residence.  If  a  concession  must  be  made,  the  minor- 
ity must  make  it,  and  when  the  states  south  of  us  yielded,  all  hope  was 
at  an  end.  I  have  long  since  desponded  of  Georgetown,  nor  are  my 
hopes  more  sanguine  under  the  new  than  they  have  been  under  the 
old  government  ;  but  it  has  in  my  estimation  every  consideration  of 


480  APPENDIX. 

reason  and  propriety  on  its  side,  and,  of  course,  every  effort  should  be 
made  in  its  favor  wliile  there  is  a  prospect  of  success. 

Enclosures  in  Lord  Dorchester's  ISfo.  82,  of  H  Oct.,  17SS.     Ex. 

The  manufactures  of  the  states  are  in  their  infancy,  yet  the  enter- 
prising genius  of  the  people  may  be  gathered  from  the  great  exertions 
of  individuals  in  this  branch  under  all  their  present  embarrassments. 
In  Connecticut,  attempts  have  been  made  to  make  silk,  and  with  suc- 
cess ;  specimens  are  shown  at  New  Haven  College,  and  Dr.  Styles,  the 
president,  who  is  a  man  of  genius  and  perseverance,  is  indefatigable 
at  present  in  promoting  it.  Kail  manufactories  are  already  established; 
there  are  two  in  Albany  that  supply  the  whole  country,  and  the  im- 
portation of  nails  from  Great  Britain  has  ceased  in  that  neighborhood. 
A  white-glass  manufactory  has  lately  been  set  on  foot  in  Jersey,  and 
the  sale  is  not  inconsiderable. 

Pennsylvania  has  taken  the  lead  in  various  branches  of  manufac- 
ture ;  it  is  said  that  there  are  at  this  time  between  two  and  three  hun- 
dred stocking  looms  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  and  different  parts  of 
the  state,  with  full  employment.  Machines  for  carding  and  spinning 
cottons  have  been  introduced,  and  jeans  can  be  made  on  moderate 
terms.  The  culture  of  cotton  is  at  present  much  attended  to  in  the 
southern  states. 

Ed.  Carrinr/ton  to  JIadison,  Fredericksburg,  10  Oct.,  1788.     Ex. 

3Iy  dear  Sir  :  Having  traveled  leisurely,  I  arrived  here  last  even- 
ing, and  shall  proceed  to-morrow  morning  for  Richmond. 

I  left  Mount  Vernon  on  Friday  ;  during  my  stay  there  I  had  much 
conversation  with  the  general  upon  the  probable  politics  of  the  assem- 
bly, with  respect  to  the  constitution.  lie  is  fully  persuaded  that  anti- 
federalism  will  be  the  actuating  principle,  and  that  great  circumspec- 
tion is  necessary  to  prevent  very  mischievous  effects  from  a  co-operation 
in  the  insidious  proposition  of  New  York.  lie  is  particularly  alarmed 
from  a  prospect  of  an  election  for  the  senate,  entirely  anti-federal.  It 
is  said  in  this  part  of  the  state  that  Mr.  Henry  and  Mr.  R.  II,  Lee  are 
to  be  pushed.  I  believe  it  is  founded  only  in  conjecture,  but  the  gen- 
eral is  apprehensive  it  may  prove  true  ;  that  to  exclude  the  former 
will  be  impossible  ;  and  that  the  latter,  being  supported  by  his  inliu- 
ence,  will  also  get  in,  unless  a  federalist  very  well  established  in  the 
couGdeiice  of  the  peoi)le  can  be  op[)Osed.     He  is  decided  in  his  wishes 


LETTEES   AKD   PAPERS.  481 

that  you  may  be  brought  forward  upon  this  occasion.  I  told  him 
"  that  your  views  were  to  offer  your  services  to  the  public  in  the 
legislature,  in  that  branch  which  would  be  most  agreeable  to  the 
public,  but  that  I  had  reason  to  believe  you  had  a  jn-eference  for 
the  house  of  representatives."  Upon  this,  he  observed  that,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  considerations  first  suggested,  your  services  in  the 
senate  will  be  of  more  importance  than  in  the  other  house,  as  there 
will  be  much  depending  on  that  branch  unconnected  with  the  other. 
Some  other  observations  were  made  to  this  purpose,  and  the  issue 
was  his  decided  opinion  that  you  ought  [to]  be  proposed  for  the 
senate. 

St.  John  Crevecoeur  to  Jefferson,  New  TorTc,  20  Oct.,  17S8.     Ex. 

Never  was  so  great  a  change  in  the  opinion  of  the  best  people  as  has 
happened  these  five  years  ;  almost  everybody  feels  the  necessity  of  co- 
ercive laws,  government,  union,  industry,  and  labor.  I  hope  the  small 
differences  entertained  by  some  people  about  the  mode  of  regeneration 
will  no  longer  be  a  barrier  ;  such  wull  be  the  foundations  of  America's 
future  peace,  opulence,  and  power.  The  exports  of  this  country  have 
singularly  increased  within  these  two  years,  and  the  imports  have  de- 
creased in  proportion  ;  manufactures  of  the  most  useful  kind  are  estab- 
lishing in  Pennsylvania,  Connecticut,  and  Massachusetts  ;  in  the  south 
they  begin  to  cultivate  cotton,  and  in  the  north  they  are  erecting  en- 
gines to  spin  it.  Nails,  canvas,  cordage,  glass,  woollens,  linens  are 
now  making  as  good  of  their  kind  as  any  in  Europe.  Bridges  are 
building  everywhere,  new  communications  are  opening,  new  settle- 
ments forming ;  the  fisheries  have  been  singularly  prosperous  this 
year  ;  even  here  a  singular  spirit  of  improvement  is  conspicuous  ;  they 
are  paving  all  their  streets  in  dos  cVdne,  with  elegant  footpaths  on  each 
side  ;  toward  the  North  river  immense  docks  are  filling  up  with  the 
adjacent  banks,  over  which  a  beautiful  street,  sixty  feet  wide,  is  already 
laid  out,  which  begins  at  the  Battery  and  is  to  extend  two  miles,  a  con- 
siderable part  of  which  is  already  done  and  paved.  Four  thousand 
pounds  have  been  subscribed  for  embellishing  and  enlarging  the  City 
Hall,  in  order  to  accommodate  the  new  federal  corps  with  more  decency, 
and  Major  I'Enf  ant  has  been  appointed  to  preside  over  the  works,  which 
he  has  planned  himself.  This  country,  once  consolidated,  will  easily 
pay  its  debts,  by  a  wise  system  of  commercial  law  encourage  the  in- 
dustry of  its  inhabitants,  and  draw  forth  all  their  genius.     The  Trans- 

VOL.   II.  31 


482  APPENDIX. 

appalachian  country  is  filling  apace  ;  there  lies  the  embryo  of  new  con- 
nections, a  vast  political  field  which  I  dare  not  explore. 

J.  B.  Cutting  to  Jefferson. 
There  is  a  gentleman  just  arrived  from  Virginia  ;  left  the  convention 
debating  on  the  eleventh  of  June.  He  says  he  attended  several  days, 
and  that  nothing  can  exceed  the  seeming  violence  with  which  Mr. 
Henry  and  Colonel  Grayson  combat  the  constitution,  except  the  ability 
with  which  Mr,  Madison  and  Governor  Randolj)h  advocate  it,  Mr, 
Henry  used  such  harsh  language  in  reprobating  the  fickle  conduct  of 
the  latter  that  the  house  compelled  him  to  ask  that  gentleman's  par- 
don. No  doubt  was  entertained  in  Virginia  respecting  the  ratification 
by  that  state, 

Francis  Corhin  to  Iladison,  21  Oct.,  1788.  Ex. 
A  proposition  will  be  brought  forward  in  the  assembly  for  a  second 
convention  of  the  states,  and  I  fear  it  will  be  carried,  although  I  have 
not  yet  been  able  to  ascertain  the  complexion  of  the  house,  this  being 
but  the  second  day  of  our  meeting.  This  proposition,  it  is  said,  will 
be  introduced,  not  by  Henry,  but  (mirabile  dictic  /)  by  our  friend  Ran- 
dolph. He  will  injure  his  political  reputation  by  his  doublings  and 
turnings.  He  is  too  Machiavellian  and  not  Machiavellian  enough.  I 
wish,  I  sincerely  wish,  that  he  could  be  advised,  and  would  take  ad- 
vice ;  but  this,  I  fear,  is  out  of  the  question.  We  Virginians  are  too 
much  accustomed  to  solitude  and  slavery,  too  much  puffed  up  with  our 
own  foolish  pride  and  vanity,  ever  to  entertain  any  other  idea  than 
that  we  alone  are  wise,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  world  fools. 

General  Lincoln  to  Wdshingto^i,  Boston,  25  Oct.,  1788.     Ex. 

Mt  dear  General  :  I  have  the  pleasure  of  transmitting  to  your 
Excellency  a  publication  containing  a  number  of  letters  written  some 
time  since  by  Mr,  J,  Adams.  The  writer  has,  I  think,  discovered  great 
knowledge  of  our  country  and  of  the  state  of  our  affairs,  and  conducted 
his  answers  to  the  several  questions  with  great  address  and  in  a  very 
masterly  manner. 

Our  general  court  meets  here  on  "Wednesrlay  next.  It  is  quite  un- 
certain who  will  be  our  senators,  or  at  the  least  one  of  them.  Mr. 
Strong,  I  tliink,  will  be  chosen  ;  for  the  other  seat  there  are  many  can- 
didates— Mr.  Bowdoin,  Mr.  S.Adams,  Mr.  R.  King,  Mr.  Judge  Dana,  etc. 


LETTERS    AISTD    PAPERS.  483 


Ed.  Carrington  to  James  Madison.,  Itichmond,  9  Nov.,  1788.     Ex. 

My  dear  Sir  :  The  election  for  senators  came  on  yesterday,  and 
terminated  as  I  gave  you  some  reason  to  apprehend  in  my  last.  The 
ballots  were  as  follows  :  For  R.  H.  Lee,  ninety-eight ;  for  William 
Grayson,  eighty-six  ;  for  James  Madison,  seventy-seven.  The  whole 
number  of  votes  was  one  hundred  and  sixty-two,  sixty-two  whereof 
were  given  singly  to  you  ;  of  those  cast  away,  Mr.  H.  got  twenty-six, 
and  the  remainder  were  distributed  to  many  others.  I  am  confident 
that  two  thirds  of  the  assembly  are  antis  who  meditate  mischief  against 
the  government.  You  will  therefore  account  for  the  majority  against 
you  upon  principles  not  dishonorable  to  yourself  ;  and  indeed  many 
must  have  voted  from  personal  regard  against  their  own  principles,  or 
you  could  not  have  received  so  great  a  ballot. 

The  voice  of  this  state  runs  pretty  unanimously  for  General  Wash- 
ington as  president,  and  Mr.  Henry  is  putting  in  agitation  the  name  of 
Clinton  for  vice-president,  which  takes  well  with  the  antis  ;  indeed,  it 
is  more  than  probable  he  will  receive  a  majority  among  the  electors  to 
be  chosen.  Grayson  is  warm  in  such  an  election  ;  he  is,  indeed,  the 
devoted  servant  of  Henry.  You  may  rely  upon  it,  my  dear  friend, 
that  Mr.  Henry  will  throw  into  the  government  every  embarrassment 
he  possibly  can. 

Carrington  to  3Iadlson,  Eichmond,  15  Nov.,  1788.     Ex. 
Your  friends  from  the  district  will  write  you,  and  therefore  I  will 
not  say  more  on  the  point  of  your  election.     You  may,  however,  de- 
pend on  meeting  with  all  the  opposition  that  can  be  brought  into 
practice  against  you. 

Washi7igton  to  3Iadison,  17  Nov.,  1788.  Ex. 
The  accounts  from  Richmond  are,  indeed,  very  unpropitious  to  fed- 
eral measures.  In  one  word  it  is  said  that  the  edicts  of  Mr.  H.  are 
enregistered  with  less  opposition  in  the  Virginia  assembly  than  those 
of  the  grand  monarch  by  his  parliaments.  He  has  only  to  say,  Let 
this  be  law,  and  it  is  law. 

Carrington  to  Madison,  Bichmond,  18  Nov.,  1788.    ■  Ex. 
It  is  as  yet  not  ascertained  who  will  be  started  against  you  ;  within 
a  few  days  there  has  arisen  some  reason  to  suspect  that  Colonel  Mon- 


484  APPENDIX. 

roe  will  be  tbe  man.     Let  me  apprise  you  that  you  are  upon  no  occa- 
sion of  a  public  nature  to  expect  favors  from  that  gentleman. 

Henry  Lee  to  Madison^  Alexandria^  19  J^ov.^  17S8.  Ex. 
Except  the  mortification  I  feel  personally  at  the  late  appointments 
and  the  evidence  it  holds  up  to  the  world  of  the  temper  of  this  state, 
I  profess  myself  pleased  with  your  exclusion  from  the  senate,  and  I 
wish  it  may  so  happen  in  the  lower  house  ;  then  you  will  be  left  quali- 
fied to  take  part  in  the  administration,  which  is  the  place  proper  for 
you.  I  had  a  full  and  confidential  conversation  with  our  sachem  on 
all  these  points.  He  agreed  precisely  with  me  in  the  above  opinion. 
He  will  come  forward  if  the  public  happiness  demands  it,  although 
his  love  of  domestic  repose  renders  him  deaf  to  all  the  allurements  of 
ambition  and  power.  On  nobler  principles  and  with  more  generous 
views  he  will  quit  his  happy  situation,  and  if  he  quit,  he  will  expect, 
and  with  justice  too,  the  united  and  firm  assistance  of  all  friends  to 
their  country. 

Ed.  Carrington  to  Madison,  Michmond,  26  Nov.,  1788. 

]\[y  dear  Sir  :  Since  my  last  to  you  it  is  decided  that  Monroe  is  to 
be  your  opponent ;  the  interest  of  both  Cabel  and  Strother  will  be 
combined  in  his  favor.  I  wish  you  could  be  in  the  district,  as  no 
pains  will  be  spared  to  impress  the  minds  of  the  peoj^le  with  preju- 
dices against  you. 

I  have  already  apprised  you  of  the  political  hostility  of  Monroe, 
and  it  will  be  well  for  you  to  pay  some  regard  to  it. 

lVas?iin(/ton  to  Mochamheau,  27  JVov.,  1788, 
Here  we  have  all  peace,  and  a  happy  prospect  that  the  new  govern- 
ment will  soon  be  carried  into  execution.  On  your  side  of  the  Atlan- 
tic I  am  sorry  to  find  that  there  is  some  probability  of  a  general  war. 
You  will,  I  know,  my  dear  count,  applaud  the  wish  Avhich  humanity 
makes  to  prevent  the  effusion  of  blood,  even  though  you  are  a  military 
man,  and  might  have  a  better  chance  than  most  others  to  gather  fi'esh 
laurels  in  the  field  of  death. 

JJ.  llumphreyn  to  Jefferson,  Mount  Yernon,  29  JVov.,  1788.     Ex. 
The  same  General  Wadsworth  who  was  in  Congress  with  you  at 
Annapolis  became,  in  conjunction  with  two  or  three  of  his  subalterns,  ' 


LETTERS    AND    PAPERS.  485 

the  clirector  of  every  political  measure  in  Connecticut,  and  prevented, 
in  almost  every  instance,  a  compliance  with  the  requisitions  of  con- 
gress. On  the  other  part,  great  numbers  of  those  who  wished  to  see 
an  efficient  federal  government  prevail,  began  to  fear  that  the  bulk  of 
the  people  would  never  submit  to  it.  In  short,  some  of  them  who  had 
been  utterly  averse  to  royalty  began  to  imagine  that  hardly  anything 
but  a  king  could  cure  the  evil.  It  was  truly  astonishing  to  have  been 
witness  to  some  conversations  which  I  have  heard.  Still,  all  the  more 
reasonable  men  saw  that  the  remedy  would  be  infinitely  worse  than 
the  disease.  In  this  fluctuating  and  irritable  situation  the  public  mind 
continued  for  some  time. 

Colonel  R.  H.  Lee  and  Colonel  Grayson,  the  senators  of  this  state, 
are  not  comprehended  under  the  denomination  of  federalists,  but  it  is 
generally  believed  they  will  be  less  violent  than  many  of  their  party. 
Mr.  Madison  was  in  nomination  with  those  two  gentlemen,  and  lost  his 
election  by  eight  or  nine  votes.  This  was  owing  entirely  to  Mr.  Patrick 
Henry,  who  openly  opposed  his  election,  and  who  cai-ries  every  meas- 
ure he  espouses  in  the  assembly.  In  throwing  the  state  into  districts 
for  the  choice  of  representatives  to  congress,  it  is  said,  he  has  taken 
particular  pains  to  prevent  Mr.  Madison  from  being  chosen.  Some 
who  wish  equally  well  to  the  go.vernment  and  Mr.  Madison,  imagine 
it  may  be  the  means  of  having  him  better  employed  as  minister  for 
the  home  department. 

The  opinion  seems  to  be  universal  that  General  "Washington  will  be 
elected  president.  Mr.  John  Adams,  Mr.  Hancock,  and  General  Knox 
are  spoken  of  as  candidates  for  the  vice-presidency.  It  is  rather  prob- 
able that  the  first  will  be  appointed,  than  either  of  the  others.  Uj^on 
the  whole,  we  may  augur  much  more  favorable  things  than  ajipearances 
heretofore  promised.  The  habits  of  industry  and  economy,  which 
have  been  introduced  by  necessity,  require  only  an  efficient  general 
government  to  ensure  prosperity  ;  and  the  people  of  the  different 
states  seem  disposed  to  acquiesce  in  such  a  government,  provided  care 
be  taken  not  to  touch  their  purses  too  deeply. 

The  Count  du  Moustier,  his  sister,  her  son,  and  Mr.  Du  Pont,  have 
lately  been  at  Mount  Yernon.  The  minister  appears  to  be  a  very  well 
informed  man,  and  extremely  desirous  of  promoting  the  commercial 
connection  between  France  and  this  country. 

He  affects  plainness  in  dress  and  simplicity  of  manners  ;  but, 
perhaps,  not  so  much  to   fall  into  American  customs  as  the  Chev. 


486  APPENDIX. 

Luzerne  did.  It  is  questionable,  therefore,  whether  he  will  be  so 
popular. 

]MaJame  de  Brehan  appears  very  inquisitive  after  information.  She 
does  not  find  the  country  answer  Mr.  Crevecoeur's  description  of  it. 
Some  ladies  have  thought  she  rather  undervalued  them,  when  she  ap- 
peared in  a  considerable  company  with  a  three-cornered  muslin  hand- 
kerchief tied  round  her  head,  nearly  in  the  fashion  of  the  negro  women 
in  the  West  Indies. 

Emigrations  from  the  old  settlements  to  the  West  continue  to  be  im- 
mense. In  the  mean  while  the  arts  of  peace  are  progressing  in  the  old 
states,  perhaps  more  rapidly  than  they  have  ever  before  done.  The 
sj^irit  of  improvement  is  gaining  ground.  The  three  great  bridges 
lately  erected  in  Massachusetts  do  that  state  vast  credit.  The  enter- 
prise in  trade  and  manufactures,  supported  by  domestic  economy,  has, 
dui'ing  the  last  year,  for  the  first  time  made  the  exports  from  thence 
considerably  more  valuable  than  the  imports  into  it.  To  this  the  trade 
to  the  East  Indies  has  not  a  little  contributed. 

Washington  to  David  Stuart,  2  Dec,  1788.  Ex. 
That  the  legislature  of  the  state  has  displayed  the  most  malignant 
(and,  if  one  may  be  allowed  the  expression,  the  most  unwarrantable)  dis- 
l^osition  toward  the  new  government,  in  all  its  acts  respecting  it,  needs 
no  other  evidence  than  their  public  records  ;  but  upon  what  ground 
they  have  undertaken  to  assert  things  which  the  representatives  of  the 
people,  chosen  for  the  express  purpose  in  convention,  have  not  author- 
ized them  to  do,  lies  with  the  wisdom  of  the  majority  of  that  assembly 
to  ex])lain.  Nor  will  it  redound  much  to  their  honor,  I  conceive,  if  in 
the  ultimate  appeal  to  the  people  there  should  (as  you  have  intimated) 
be  seven  out  of  the  ten  representatives  on  the  federal  side.  But  excuse 
me,  my  dear  sir,  when  I  give  it  to  you  as  my  opinion  that  you  are 
reckoning  without  your  host,  as  the  phrase  is.  There  may  be  such  a 
proportion  through  the  state  who  are  friends  to  the  adopted  constitu- 
tion, but  they  cither  do  not  see  the  necessity,  or  are  too  indolent  or  too 
much  engaged  in  other  matters  to  come  forward,  or  too  much  disunited 
among  themselves  to  act  in  unison  ;  while  those  of  the  other  description 
(or  I  wn  much  mistaken)  will  be  formed  into  one  solid  phalanx.  Need 
I  go  out  of  tliis  district  for  proof?  In  my  opinion,  Chatham  Fitzhugh, 
or  you,  are  the  characters  most  likely  to  unite  the  suffrages  of  the  fed- 
eral interest  in  it.      Neither  will  serve.     What  is  the  consequence? 


LETTEES    AXD    PAPERS.  487 

Wliy,  a  third  is  proposed,  in  whom  all  cannot  agree  ;  a  fourth  and  a 
fifth  will  have  advocates,  and  neither  will  be  chosen.  This  is  my  idea 
of  the  matter.  I  give  it  to  you,  however,  in  confidence,  for  I  have 
been  already  dragged  into  public  view  on  these  occasions  more  than  is 
agreeable  to  me.  It  would  seem  to  me  good  policy  for  the  federal 
delegates  (now  in  assembly)  of  each  district  to  confer  freely  together, 
and  resolve  to  support  the  fittest  character  therein  ;  at  any  rate,  not 
to  be  disunited.  Sorry,  indeed,  should  I  be  if  Mr.  Madison  meets 
the  same  fate  ia  the  district  of  which  Orange  composes  a  part  as 
he  has  done  in  the  assembly  ;  and  to  me  it  seems  not  at  all  improb- 
able. 

The  expensive  manner  in  which  I  live  (contrary  to  my  wishes,  but 
really  unavoidable),  the  bad  years  of  late,  and  my  consequent  short 
crops,  have  occasioned  me  to  run  in  debt,  and  to  feel  more  sensibly  the 
want  of  money  than  I  have  ever  done  at  any  period  of  my  whole  life, 
and  obliges  me  to  look  forward  to  every  source  from  whence  I  have  a 
right  to  expect  relief.  Under  these  circumstances  I  must  ask  you 
what  prospect  I  have,  and  in  what  time  (after  it  becomes  due)  I  may 
expect  to  receive  the  present  year's  annuity. 

Washington  to  Colonel  Henry  Lee,  12  Dec,  1788.  Ex. 
Your  intention  to  decline  offering  yourself  for  the  AVestmoreland 
district,  since  you  have  received  advice  of  Mr.  John  Page's  doing  it, 
is  an  unequivocal  proof,  if  proof  was  wanting,  of  your  friendly  dispo- 
sitions to  the  new  government ;  but  whether  it  is  the  most  effectual 
way  of  serving  it  is  another  question.  Whether  Mr.  Page's  interest 
or  yours  is  best  in  the  district  I  am  not  sufficiently  informed  to  decide  ; 
but  of  one  thing  I  am  sure,  and  that  is  that  these  matters  (to  stand 
upon  equal  ground  with  the  opponents  of  the  constitution)  ought  to 
be  the  result  of  previous  consultation  and  arrangement. 

8t.  John  Crevecoeur  to  Jefferson,  N'eio  Yoi'k,  5  Jan.,  1789.  Ex. 
Notwithstanding  all  these  untoward  appearances,  I  am  convinced^ 
that  the  nail  is  clinched.  This  country  can  remain  no  longer  without 
a  government,  and  the  sticklers  for  amendments  are  only  those  who 
are  head  over  heels  in  debt.  Our  governor  is  not  a  man  of  sufficient 
abilities  to  become  the  head  of  a  party.  Colonel  Hamilton  is  just  set 
out  for  Albany  ;  not  that  he  is  a  member  of  the  house,  but  to  be  on 
the  spot  and  help  in  directing  his  friends. 


488  APPENDIX, 


Sir  John  Temple  to  Lord  Carmarthen,  Kew  Yorh,  7  Jan.,  1789.  Ex. 
3Iany  difficulties  have  arisen,  and  are  daily  arising,  concerning  the 
organization  of  the  new  constitution  ;  anti-federalism  daily  gains 
ground  in  many  of  the  states,  so  much  so  that  it  appears  to  me  doubt- 
ful whether  ever  the  said  constitution  will  take  place  until  it  be  altered 
or  modified,  and  the  tedious  progress  of  state  and  general  conventions 
for  that  purpose  will  render  it  at  least  a  considerable  time  before  any 
firm  government  shall  be  established. 

J.  E.  HovmnJ,    Governor  of  Maryland,  to    'Washington,  Annapolis, 

^23  Jan.,  1789. 
In  this  state,  the  federal  ticket  has  been  carried  by  a  very  large 
majority.  Knowing  that  this  circumstance  will  give  you  pleasure,  I 
have  taken  the  earliest  opportunity  of  communicating  it.  One  circum- 
stance I  will  add  :  that,  in  the  county  which  bears  your  name,  out  of 
1,164  taken,  there  was  not  one  for  the  anti-federal  ticket. 

Tobias  J^ear  to  John  Langdon,  Mount  Vernon,  SI  Jem.,  1789.     Ex. 

Since  the  assembly  of  this  state  have  finished  all  matters  relative  to 
the  government  so  far  as  dej^ended  upon  them,  the  aspect  of  these 
affairs  have  assumed  a  more  settled  form,  and  will  enable  a  person  to 
speak  with  some  degree  of  certainty  upon  them. 

]Mr.  Henry,  the  leader  of  the  opposition  in  this  state,  finding  himself 
beaten  off  the  ground  by  fair  argument  in  the  state  convention,  and 
outnumbered  upon  the  important  question,  collected  his  whole  strength 
and  pointed  his  whole  force  against  the  government  in  the  assembly. 
He  here  met  with  but  a  feeble  opposition,  for  those  great  characters 
who  had  supported  the  system  in  the  convention  were  not  members 
of  the  assembly.  There  was  not  now  a  single  speaker  who  could 
cope  with  him.  He  led  on  his  almost  unresisted  phalanx,  and 
planted  the  standard  of  hostility  upon  the  very  battlements  of  fed- 
eralism. 

In  plain  English,  he  ruled  a  majority  of  the  assembly,  and  his  edicts 
were  registered  by  that  body  with  less  opposition  than  those  of  the 
Grand  ^lonarque  have  met  with  from  his  ])arliaments.  He  chose  the 
two  senators,  R.  H.  Lee  and  Colonel  Grayson,  both  of  whom  had  de- 
clared themselves  opposed  to  the  government.  He  divided  the  state 
into  districts,  obliging  every  district  to  choose  one  representative  who 


LETTERS    ATs'D    PAPERS.  489 

should  be  an  inhabitant  of  that  district,  taking  care  to  arrange  matters 
so  as  to  have  the  county  of  which  Mr.  Madison  is  an  inhabitant  thrown 
into  a  district  of  which  a  majority  were  supposed  to  be  unfriendly  to 
the  government,  and  by  that  means  exclude  him  from  the  representa- 
tive body  in  congress.  lie  wrote  the  answer  to  Governor  Clinton's 
letter,  and  likewise  the  circular  letter  to  the  executives  of  the  several 
states  (one  of  which,  I  presume,  your  Excellency  has  received  before  this 
time),  requesting  that  the  states  might  unite  in  desiring  congress  to 
call  another  general  convention,  etc.  And  after  he  had  settled  every- 
thing relative  to  the  government  wholly  (I  suppose)  to  his  satisfaction, 
he  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  home,  leaving  the  little  business  of  the 
state  to  be  done  by  anybody  who  chose  to  give  themselves  the  trouble 
of  attending  to  it. 

This,  I  believe,  is  a  pretty  fair  state  of  facts  so  far  as  they  relate  to 
the  legislature.  One  thing,  however,  should  be  remarked,  viz.,  that 
the  doings  of  the  assembly  upon  the  government  have  been  represented 
out  of  the  state  as  their  almost  unanimous  deed.  This  is  not  the  case  ; 
there  was  a  respectable  minority  in  point  of  number,  and  in  any  other 
view  they  would  be  considered  by  all  good  men  as  far  outweighing 
their  opponents  ;  and  the  voice  of  the  people,  in  the  choice  of  electors 
since  the  assembly  have  risen,  clearly  shows  that  their  sentiments  were 
not  justly  represented  in  that  body,  for  they  have  made  choice  of  gen- 
tlemen for  that  business  of  whom  a  great  majority  were  warm  and 
decided  supporters  of  the  government.  But  the  fullest  proof  of  the 
disposition  of  the  people  will  be  given  in  their  choice  of  representa- 
tives to  congress  which  will  take  place  on  Monday  next,  and  of  these, 
six,  at  least,  will  be  federal  characters.  This  the  opposite  party  them- 
selves acknowledge,  and  the  more  sanguine  in  favor  of  the  government 
speak  with  confidence  of  seven  or  eight  out  of  ten  that  will  be  warm 
supporters  of  the  system.  There  can  be  but  little  doubt  of  Mr.  Madi- 
son's election,  for,  notwithstanding  their  unwearied  efforts  to  exclude 
him  from  any  share  in  the  government  by  the  arrangement  of  the  dis- 
trict, and  every  other  obstacle  that  could  be  suggested,  his  personal 
appearance  in  the  district  and  the  exertions  of  his  friends  have  so  far 
turned  the  current  in  his  favor  that  they  chose  a  decided  federalist  as 
an  elector  in  spite  of  every  opposition.  If  he  should  be  left  out,  not 
only  this  state  but  the  whole  continent  will  sustain  a  considerable  loss 
by  being  deprived  of  his  superior  abilities. 

Mr.  Richard  H.  Lee  has  declared  that,  in  his  opinion,  the  govern- 


490  APPET^DIX. 

raent  ought  to  have  a  fair  trial  in  its  present  form,  and  that  he  shall 
be  opposed  to  any  premature  amendments. 

John  Adams  to  Jefferson,  Braintreey  1  March,  1789.     Ex. 

In  four  days  the  new  govei-nment  is  to  be  erected.  Washington 
appears  to  have  an  unanimous  vote,  and  there  is  probably  a  plurality, 
if  not  a  majority,  in  favor  of  your  friend.  It  may  be  found  easier  to 
give  authority  than  to  yield  obedience.  Amendments  to  the  constitu- 
tion Avill  be  expected,  and  no  doubt  discussed. 

Will  you  be  so  good  as  to  look  over  the  code,  and  write  me  your 
sentiments  of  amendments  which  you  think  necessary  or  useful  ?  That 
greatest  and  most  necessary  of  all  amendments,  the  separation  of  the 
executive  power  from  the  legislative,  seems  to  be  better  understood 
than  it  once  was  ;  without  this  our  government  is  in  danger  of  being  a 
continual  struggle  between  a  junta  of  grandees  for  the  first  chair. 

The  success  of  the  new  plan  will  depend,  in  the  first  place,  upon  a 
revenue  to  defray  the  interest  of  the  foreign  and  domestic  debt.  But 
how  to  get  a  revenue?  how  to  render  smuggling  and  evasion 
shameful  ? 

You  must  expect  the  first  operations  will  be  very  slow.  Mrs.  A., 
and  your  old  admirer,  my  son,  John  Quincy  Adams,  desire  their  re- 
spects to  you.  "With  unabated  respect,  esteem,  and  affection,  I  am, 
my  dear  sir,  your  friend  and  humble  servant,  etc. 

Washington  to  Captain  Richard  Coincay,  ^  March,  1789.  Ex. 
Dear  Sir  :  Never  till  within  these  two  years  have  I  ever  experi- 
enced the  want  of  money.  Short  crops,  and  other  causes  not  entirely 
within  my  control,  make  me  feel  it  now  very  sensibly.  To  collect 
money  without  the  intervention  of  suits  (and  these  are  tedious)  seems 
impracticable,  and  land  which  I  have  offered  for  sale  will  not  command 
cash  at  an  under  value,  if  at  all.  Under  this  statement  I  am  inclined 
to  do  what  I  never  expected  to  be  driven  to — that  is,  to  borrow  money 
on  interest.  Five  hundred  pounds  would  enable  me  to  discharge  what 
I  owe  in  Alexandria,  etc.  ;  and  to  leave  the  state  (if  it  shall  not  be  in 
my  power  to  remain  at  home  in  retirement)  without  doing  this  would 
be  exceedingly  disagreeable  to  me.  Having  thus  fully  and  candidly 
explained  myself,  jjermit  me  to  ask  if  it  is  in  your  power  to  supply  me 
with  the  above,  or  a  smaller  sum.  Any  security, you  may  best  like  I 
can  give,  and  you  may  be  assured  that  it  is  no  more  my  inclination 


LETTERS    AND    PAPERS.  491 

than  it  can  be  yours  to  let  it  remain  long  unpaid.  Could  I  get  in  one 
fourth  part  of  what  is  due  to  me  on  bonds,  or  sell  any  of  the  landed 
property  which  I  am  inclined  to  dispose  of,  I  could  do  it  with  ease  ; 
but,  independently  of  these,  my  rents  and  crops  would  soon  enable  me 
to  do  it,  provided  I  am  tolerably  successful  in  the  latter  and  have  com- 
mon justice  done  me  in  the  former.  Your  answer  will  much  oblige 
yours,  etc. 

Washington  to  Cajytain  Richard  Conway,  G  3Iarch,  1780,     Ex. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  am  much  obliged  by  your  assurance  of  money.  Mr. 
Lear  waits  upon  you  for  it,  and  carries  a  bond,  drawn  in  the  manner 
you  requested.  I  am  very  well  satisfied  to  allow  six  per  cent,  (the 
interest  of  Maryland),  because  I  have  not  the  smallest  doubt  of  the 
readiness  with  which  you  could  lend  any  sum  on  those  terms.  If  it  is 
necessary  that  the  bond  should  be  taken  in  Maryland,  I  will  exchange 
the  one  now  sent  for  another  to  be  given  at  Georgetown,  or  opposite 
to  Alexandria  (at  whichever  ferry  I  may  pass).  I  would  have  done  it 
this  day,  but  being  to  set  off  to-morrow  for  Fredericksburg,  in  order, 
probably,  to  discharge  the  last  act  of  personal  duty  I  may  (from  her 
age)  ever  have  it  in  my  power  to  pay  my  mother,  it  would  be  very 
inconvenient  for  me. 

Upon  collecting  my  accounts  by  Mr.  Lear,  the  other  day,  it  was 
found  that  though  five  hundred  pounds  will  enable  me  to  discharge 
them,  yet  it  is  incompetent  to  this  and  the  other  purpose,  the  ex- 
penses of  my  journey  to  New  York,  if  I  go  thither.  If,  therefore, 
you  could  add  another  hundred  pounds  to  the  former  sum,  it  would 
be  very  acceptable.  Mr.  Lear  is  provided  with  a  bond  for  this  sum 
also. 

As  you  said  nothing  about  security  in  your  letter,  none  is  given,  but 
I  am  not  less  willing  and  ready,  notwithstanding,  to  include  it  in  an- 
other bond  if  you  desire  it. 

John  JOangdon  to  Washington,  JVeio  YbrJc,  6  April,  1789. 
Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  to  your  Excellency  the  informa- 
tion of  your  unanimous  election  to  the  office  of  president  of  the 
United  States  of  America.  Suffer  me,  sir,  to  indulge  the  hope  that 
so  auspicious  a  mark  of  public  confidence  will  meet  your  approbation, 
and  be  considered  as  a  sure  pledge  of  the  affection  and  support  you 
are  to  expect  from  a  free  and  an  enlightened  people. 


492  APPEJ^DIX. 


G.  Washington  to  Bohert  B.  Livingston,  JVeio  York,  31  May,  1789. 
Sir  :  The  new  and  busy  scenes  in  which  I  have  been  constantly  en- 
gaged since  my  arrival  in  this  place,  and  which  will  not  allow  me  to 
paj^  that  pointed  attention  to  the  favors  of  my  friends  that  my  incli- 
nation would  lead  me  to  do,  will,  I  trust,  apologize  for  this  late  ac- 
knowledgment of  your  letter  of  the  fifteenth  instant. 

To  you,  sir,  and  others  who  know  me,  I  believe  it  is  unnecessary  for 
me  to  say  that  when  I  accej^ted  of  the  important  trust  committed  to 
my  charge  by  my  country,  I  gave  up  every  idea  of  personal  gratifica- 
tion that  I  did  not  think  was  compatible  with  the  public  good.  Under 
this  impression  I  plainly  foresaw  that  the  part  of  my  duty  which 
obliged  me  to  nominate  persons  to  offices  would,  in  many  instances, 
be  the  most  irksome  and  unpleasing  ;  for  however  strong  my  personal 
attachment  might  be  to  any  one — however  desirous  I  might  be  of  giv- 
ing a  proof  of  my  friendship — and  whatever  might  be  his  expectations, 
grounded  upon  the  amity  which  had  subsisted  between  us,  I  was  fully 
determined  to  keep  myself  free  from  every  engagement  that  could 
embarrass  me  in  discharging  this  part  of  my  administration.  I  have, 
therefore,  uniformly  declined  giving  any  decisive  answer  to  the  numer- 
ous applications  which  have  been  made  to  me  ;  being  resolved,  when- 
ever I  am  called  upon  to  nominate  persons  for  those  offices  which  may 
be  created,  that  I  will  do  it  with  a  sole  view  to  the  public  good,  and 
shall  bring  forward  those  who  upon  every  consideration,  and  from  the 
best  information  I  can  obtain,  will,  in  my  judgment,  be  most  likely  to 
answer  that  great  end. 

The  delicacy  with  which  your  letter  was  written,  and  your  wishes 
insinuated,  did  not  require  me  to  be  thus  explicit  on  this  head  with 
you  ;  but  the  desire  which  I  have  that  those  persons  whose  good  opin- 
ion I  value  should  know  the  principles  on  which  I  mean  to  act  in  this 
business,  has  led  me  to  this  full  declaration  ;  and  I  trust  that  the  truly 
worthy  and  respectable  characters  in  this  country  will  do  justice  to  the 
motives  by  which  I  am  actuated  in  all  my  public  transactions.  I  have 
the  honor  to  be,  with  due  consideration  and  very  great  esteem,  sir,  your 
most  obedient  and  very  humble  servant,  G.  Washixgtox. 

Morgan  Lems  to  Hamilton,  BhinehecJc,  2^.  June,  17S9. 
Deai;  Sir  :  T  am  informed  the  inhabitants  of  New  York  have  it  in 
contemplation   to  make  Mr,  King  one  of  our  senators.     Under  this 


LETTERS    AND    PAPEES.  493 

persuasion  I  have  thrown  it  out  in  conversation  to  several  of  the 
country  members,  and  have  found  it  very  generally  disapproved  of, 
so  much  so  that  I  am  satisfied  it  cannot  at  present  be  accomplished. 
I  am  afraid,  too,  it  would  interfere  with  the  appointment  of  General 
Schuyler,  in  this  way.  Many  persons  think  we  are  bound  to  sujjport 
Judge  Yates,  in  oi'der  to  convince  the  public  that  our  only  object  in 
pushing  him  for  the  government  was  not  merely  the  removal  of  Mr. 
Clinton.  This  may  operate  with  many  as  a  reason  for  supporting  the 
judge  against  the  general.  How  will  it  answer  to  try  the  old  chief 
for  the  southern  district  ?  This,  I  imagine,  will  give  pretty  general 
satisfaction.  The  old  gentleman  will  be  provided  for,  and  Judge 
Yates  satisfied  with  stepping  into  the  chief  justice's  chair.  Give  me 
your  sentiments  upon  this  subject ;  and  also  upon  the  mode  most 
proper  to  be  adopted  in  the  appointment  of  senators.  Mrs.  L.  joins 
in  compliments  to  Mrs.  H.  with,  dear  sir,  your  friend  and  humble 
servant,  Morgan  Lewis.* 

Secretary  W.  W.  Grenville  to  Lord  Dorchester  {secret),  Whitehall, 

20  Oct.,  1789. 
My  Lord  :  Your  lordship's  despatches  Nos.  107,  113,  and  126,  which 
relate  to  the  new  settlements  in  Kentucky,  contain  information  highly 
important  to  the  future  interests  of  his  Majesty's  provinces  in  North 
America,  and  his  Majesty  has,  therefore,  seen  with  great  satisfaction 
the  attention  which  you  have  given  to  this  subject.  It  appears  ex- 
tremely desirable  that  the  turn  of  affairs  in  those  settlements  should 
lead  to  the  establishment  of  a  government  distinct  from  that  of  the 
Atlantic  states,  and  that  if  this  should  be  the  case,  every  means  should 
be  t.aken  to  improve  and  cultivate  a  connection  with  the  former,  as 
being  likely  to  prove  highly  advantageous  to  the  interests  of  this  coun- 
try. But  this  business  does  not  (as  far  as  I  am  enabled  to  judge  from 
the  information  of  which  I  am  hitherto  in  possession)  appear  to  be  in 
a  situation  in  which  any  direct  or  open  interference  on  our  part  would 
be  in  any  respect  a  proper  or  prudent  measure.  The  great  object  of 
your  lordship's  endeavors  should,  therefore,  be  to  cultivate  such  an 
intercourse  with  the  leading  men  in  the  new  settlements  as  might  give 

'  The  letter   is   addressed   to   Alexander  Senator,  June  24th."     The  later  endorse- 

Hatnilton,  Esq.,  New  York,  honored  by  Colo-  ment,  without  date,  is  "  A  good  enough  fed- 

nel  Fish.     The  first  endorsement  made  at  eralist  at  that  time.     A.  II." 
the  time  is  "  llorgan  Lewis,  '89,  Mr.  King, 


494  APPENDIX. 

to  this  country  a  facility  of  acting,  if  at  any  time  a  proper  occasion 
should  occur,  and  enable  your  lordship,  even  at  present,  in  some  de- 
gree to  influence  their  conduct  by  representations  and  advice.  It 
is  particularly  desirable  to  prevent  any  close  connection  being  formed 
between  them  and  the  Spanish  government.  Their  mutual  jealous- 
ies on  the  subject  of  the  Mississippi  are,  I  trust,  sufficient  to  re- 
tard this  event,  but  if,  contrary  to  expectation,  it  should  appear 
likely  to  take  place,  your  lordship  should  exert  yourself  to  coun- 
teract it  by  all  such  measures  as  may  not  give  any  just  ground  of 
complaint  to  Spain.  It  is  not,  however,  to  be  wished  that  your  lord- 
ship should  for  this  purpose  make  use  of  any  promises  of  eventual, 
and  still  less  of  immediate,  assistance,  against  the  Atlantic  states. 
His  Majesty's  servants,  on  the  contrary,  entirely  concur  in  the  pru- 
dence and  propriety  of  the  conduct  held  by  your  lordship  in  this  re- 
spect, wishing  that,  whenever  the  case  should  occur,  this  country  may 
be  left  at  liberty  to  decide,  according  to  then  existing  circum- 
stances, as  to  the  degree  of  support  which  it  may  be  proper  to  hold 
out.  The  necessity  of  this  caution  is  the  more  evident  from  the 
uncertain  situation  in  which  we  stand  toward  the  United  States 
with  respect  to  the  posts  which  were  ceded  at  the  peace,  and  have 
since  been  retained  as  a  just  indemnification  for  the  non-execution 
of  that  treaty.  A  connection  with  the  Kentucky  settlers  might, 
in  the  event  of  any  dispute  with  the  Atlantic  states,  be  of  great 
advantage  ;  and  the  means  of  cultivating  such  a  connection  ought, 
therefore,  carefully  to  be  kept  in  view  while  the  point  which  I  have 
mentioned  remains  unsettled  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  desirable 
that  no  measures  should  be  taken  which  might  have  the  effect  of 
bringing  forward  any  such  dispute  w^hich  might  otherwise  be 
avoided. 

Having  thus  stated  the  general  outline  of  what  occurs  to  me  on  this 
subject,  i  have  only  to  recommend  it  to  your  lordship  to  persevere  in 
the  same  cautious  line  of  conduct  which  you  have  already  observed 
with  respect  to  it,  and  to  endeavor,  if  possible,  to  cultivate  a  close  cor- 
respondence and  intercourse  with  the  principal  persons  among  the 
Kentucky  settlers,  observing,  however,  very  carefully,  not  to  use  any 
language  which  can  in  the  smallest  degree  make  this  country  a  party 
to  any  attack  on  the  possessions  of  his  Catholic  Majesty,  with  whom 
his  Majesty  is  on  a  footing  of  peace  and  good  correspondence.  I  am, 
etc.  W.  W.  Grenville. 


LETTERS    AISD    PAPERS.  495 


Secretary  W.  W.  Grcnville  to  Lord  Dorchester,  Whitehall,  29   Oct., 

1789.     Ex. 

There  will  be  a  considerable  difficulty  in  the  mode  of  describing  the 
boundary  between  the  district  of  upper  Canada  and  the  territories  of 
the  United  States,  as  the  adhering  to  the  line  mentioned  in  the  treaty 
with  America  would  exclude  the  posts  which  are  still  in  his  Majesty's 
possession,  and  which  the  infraction  of  the  treaty  on  the  part  of 
America  has  induced  his  Majesty  to  retain,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  including  them  by  express  words  within  the  limits  to  be  estab- 
lished for  the  province  by  an  act  of  the  British  parliament,  would 
probably  excite  a  considerable  degree  of  resentment  among  the  in- 
habitants of  the  United  States,  and  might  perhaps  provoke  them  to 
measures  detrimental  to  our  commercial  interests.  Possibly  the  best 
solution  for  this  difficulty  might  be  to  describe  the  upper  district  by 
some  general  words,  such  as  "  All  the  territories,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  pos- 
sessed by  and  subject  to  his  Majesty,  and  being  to  the  west  or  south- 
west of  the  boundary  line  of  lower  Canada,  except  such  as  are  in- 
cluded within  the  present  boundaries  of  the  government  of  New 
Brunswick," 

^ 
Count  3foustier  to  Count  3Iontmorin,  New  Y'orh,  5  June,  1789.    Ex. 

The  second  revolution  through  which  the  United  States  have  passed 
by  the  change  of  their  federal  government  has  put  them  in  an  entirely 
new  light.  This  has  appeared  to  me  to  exact  greater  details.  This  is 
the  motive  which  has  determined  me  to  collect  and  to  present  to  you 
different  observations  that  may  assist  in  forming  a  fixed  opinion  on 
the  actual  situation  of  the  United  States,  and  on  the  turn  they  may 
gradually  take. 

The  constitution  of  the  United  States  has  defined  with  precision  the 
different  branches  of  the  government  ;  but  their  powers  are  still  sus- 
ceptible of  many  modifications,  according  to  the  usage  that  each  branch 
may  establish  for  that  part  which  is  confided  to  it,  and  according  to 
the  impression  which  its  exercise  will  have  produced.  It  is  already 
beyond  doubt  that,  in  spite  of  the  asserted  beauty  of  the  plan  which 
has  been  adopted,  it  would  have  been  necessary  to  renounce  its  intro- 
duction if  the  same  man  who  presided  over  its  formation  had  not  been 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  enterprise.  The  opinion  of  General  Wash- 
ington was  of  such  weight  that  it  alone  contributed  more  than  any 


496  APPEISTDIX. 

other  measure  to  cause  the  present  constitution  to  be  adopted.  The 
extreme  confidence  in  his  patriotism,  his  integrity,  and  his  intelligence 
forms  to-day  its  principal  support.  It  has  become  popular  much  more 
out  of  respect  for  the  chief  of  the  republic  than  by  any  merit  of  its 
own.  All  is  hushed  in  presence  of  the  trust  of  the  people  in  the  savior 
of  the  country. 


INDEX  TO   LETTERS  AND  PAPERS. 


PAGE 

Adams,  John,  to  Jefferson,  1  March, 

1789 490 

Bancroft,  Edward,  to  William  Fra- 

ser,  2  Sept.,  1786 388 

Bland,  Theodoric,  from  Washing- 
ton, 15  Aug.,  1786 380 

Bowen,  Jabez,  from  Washington, 

9  Jan.,  1787 407 

Brown,  John,  to  Jefferson,  10  Aug., 

1788 477 

Carmarthen,   Lord,  from  Temple, 

7  July,  1786 371 

from  Temple,  4  Oct.,  178;5 308 

from  Temple,  5  April,  1787. . . .  413 

from  Temple,  7  June,  1787 425 

from  Temple,  7  Jan.,  1789 438 

Carrington,     E.,    to    Jefferson,    9 

June,   1787 428 

to  Jefferson,  23  Oct.,  1787 445 

to  Jefferson,  10  Nov.,  1787 450 

to  Jefferson,  24  April,  1788 464 

to  Jefferson,  14  May,  1783 468 

to  Madison,  18  Dec,  1786 400 

to  Madison,  13  June,  1787 42S 

to  Madison,  25  July,  1787 436 

to  Madison,  23  Sept.,  1787 441 

to  Madison,  18  Jan.,  1788 453 

to  Madison,  8  April,  1788 463 

to  Madison,  23  April,  1788 464 

to  Madison,  17  June,  1788 470 

to  Madison,  19  Oct.,  1788 480 

to  Madison,  9  Nov.,  1788 483 

to  Madison,  15  Nov.,  1788 483 

to  Madison,  18  Nov.,  17S8 483 

to  Madison,  26  Nov.,  1788.  ....  484 

to  Monroe,  7  Aug.,  1787 436 

Carroll,  Dan. ,  to  Madison,  28  April, 

1788 466 

VOL.  II.  32 


Carter,  Charles,  from  Washington, 

20  Jan.,  1788 457 

Conway,  Richard,  from  Washing- 
ton, 4  March,  1789 490 

from  Washington,  6  March,  1789.  491 
Corbin,  Francis,    to  Madison,    21 

Oct.,  1788 482 

Council,  Lords  of,  to  Dorchester, 

13  July,  1787 430 

Craik,  Dr.  James,  from  Washing- 
ton, 4  Aug.,  1788 476 

Crevecosur,  St.  John,  to  Jefferson, 

20  Oct.,  1788 481 

to  Jefferson,  5  Jan.,  1789 487 

Cutting,  J.  B.,  to  Jefferson,  11  Ju- 
ly, 1788 472 

to  Jefferson 482 

Dane,  Nathan,  to  Rufus  King,  10 

July,  1787 430 

Donald,  A.,  to  Jefferson,  12  Nov., 

1787 451 

Dorchester,   Lord,  to  Secretary  of 

State,  24  Oct.,  1787 448 

to  Lord  Sydney,  16  Jan.,  1787..  408 

to  Sydney,  28  Feb.,  1787 414 

to  Sydney,  8  Nov.,  1787 449 

Enclosures  from,  14  Oct.,  1788.  480 
from  W.  W.  Grenville,  20  Oct., 

1789 493 

from  W.  W.  Grenville,  29  Oct., 

1789 495 

from  Lords  of  the  Council,  13 

July,  1787 430 

from  Sydney,  5  April,  1787.  . . .  416 
from  Sydney,  14  Sept.,  1787.  . .  439 
Fitzsimons,  Thomas,  from  C.  Grif- 

lin,  15  Feb.,  1788 461 

from  C.  Griffin,  26  May,  1788.  .  469 


498 


INDEX    TO    LETTEES    AND    PAPEKS. 


PAGE 

Fitzsimons,  Thomas,  from  C.  Grif- 

lin,  10  June,  1788 470 

Fowler,   John,  from  Washington, 

2  Feb.,  1788 459 

Fraser,    William,    from    Edward 

Bancroft,  2  Sept.,  1786 388 

Gadsden,  C,  to  Jefferson,  29  Oct., 

1787 448 

Gale,   B.,  to  W.    S.   Jolmson,   19 

April,  1787 418 

Gerry,    E.,  to  Monroe,    11    June, 

1787 428 

Gorham,   Nathaniel,   to  Washing- 
ton, 21  July,  1788 475 

Grayson,  William,  to  Madison,  24 

Mav,  1787 423 

to  Madison,  31  Aug.,  1787 439 

to  Monroe,  22  Nov":,  1786 404 

to  Monroe,  30  April,  1787 418 

to  Monroe,  29  May,  1787 424 

to  Monroe,  8  Auq'.,  1787 437 

to  Monroe,  22  Oct.,  1787 445 

Granville,  W.  W.,  to  Lord  Dor- 
chester,   20  Oct.,   1789 483 

to    Lord   Dorchester,    29    Oct., 

1789 405 

Griffin,  C,  to  Thomas  Fitzsimons, 

15  Feb.,  1788 461 

to  T.  Fitz.simons,  26  May,  1788.  469 
to  T.  Fitzsimons,  16  June,  1788.  470 

to  Madison,  14  April,  1788 403 

Hamilton,  from  Jolm  Langdon,  21 

June,  1788 471 

from  Morgan  Lewis,    24   June, 

1789 492 

Hill,  Ilcnry,  to  Washington,  1  Oct., 

1786 397 

IIoAvard,  J.  E.,  to  Washington,  23 

Jan.,  1789 488 

IIum])hrcvs,    D.,   to  JclTer.son,   29 

Nov.;  1788 484 

to  Wasliington,  9  Nov.,  1786...  403 
to  Wasliington,  20  Jan.,  1787..  409 
to  Washington,  9  April,  1787  .  .  417 
from  Wasliington,  10  (Jet.,  1787.  443 
Jackson,  Major,  to  Washington,  17 

Sept.,  l'787 441 

Jay,  J.,  to  Washington,  25  July, 

1787 '..  430 

to  Wasliington,  3  Feb.,  1788.  .  .  4r,() 
to  Wasliington,  24  March,  1788.  402 
to  Wasliington,  23  July,  1788.  .  475 


PAGE 

Jefferson  to  Madison,  6  Feb.,  1788.  400 

to  Monroe,  9  Aug.,  1788 476 

to  W.  Smith,  2  Feb.,  1788 459 

from  John  Adams,  1  March,  1789.  490 
from  John  Brown,  10  Aug. ,  1788.  477 
fromE.  Carring-ton,  9  June,1787.  426 
from  Carrington,  23  Oct.,  1787.  445 
from  Carrington,  10  Nov.,  1787.  450 
from  Carrington,  24  April,  1788.  464 
from  Carrington,  14  May,  1788.  468 
from    St.   John    Crevecceur,    20 

Oct.,  1788 481 

from  Crevecceur,  5  Jan.,  1789.  487 
from  J.  B.  Cutting,  11  July,  1788.  472 

from  J.  B.  Cutting 482 

from  A.  Donald,  12  Nov.,  1787.  451 
from  C.  Gadsden,  29  Oct.,  1787.  448 
from   D.  Humphreys,  29  Nov., 

1788 484 

from  Monroe,  16  July,  1786....  371 
from  Monroe,  19  Aug.,  1786. . .   381 

from  Monroe,  12  Oct.,  1786 401 

from  Monroe,  12  July,  1788 473 

from  David  Ramsay,7  April,1787.  417 
from  G.  Wythe,  13  Dec,  1786..  405 
from  G.  Wythe.  22  Dec,  1786..   407 

Jenifer,  Daniel  of  St.  Thomas,  from 

Washington,  27  April,  1788. .   406 

Johnson,  Thomas,  from  Washing- 
ton, 12  Nov.,  1786 403 

Johnson,  Wm.  Sam.,  to  his  son,  27 

June,  1787.. 430 

from  B.  Gale,  19  April,  1787.  . .  418 

King.  Rufus,  to  Monroe,  30  July, 

"1786 373 

from  N.  Dane,  16  July,  1787  . .  430 
from  John  Langdon,23  Feb.,1788  401 
from  J.  Langdon,  6  T\Iav,  1788..  467 
from  J.  Langdon,  21  June,  1788.  471 

Kno.x,  Gen.,  to  11.  R.  Livingston, 

10  Feb.,  1788  461 

to  President  Sullivan,  21  May, 

1787 423 

to  Washintrton,  14  Jan.,  1788..  455 
to  Washington,  10  March,  1788.  402 
to  Wnshington.  25  Max,  1788  .  .  409 
from  Washington,  27  Ajn-il,  1787.  418 

Lafayette,  from  R.  R.  Livingston, 

24  April,  1787 418 

from  Llviniislon,  17  Sept.,  1788.  478 
from  Washington,  10  .Ian.,  1788.  455 
from  Washington,  28  May,  1788.  409 


INDEX    TO    LETTEES    AND    PAPEES. 


499 


Langflon,  John,  to  Hamilton,  21 

June,  17S8 471 

to  Kufus  Kin<,',  23  Feb.,  1788. .  461 
to  Rufus  Kino-,  6  May,  1788  .. .  4G7 
to  Rufus  King,  31  June,  1788. .  471 
to  Washington,  G  Nov.,  1787.. .  448 
to  Washington,  6  April,  1789  . .  4'Jl 
from  Tobias  Lear,  31  Jan.,  1789.  488 
from  Washington,  3  Dec,  1787.  452 
Lathrop.  Dr.  John,  to  Washing- 
ton, 16  May,  1788 468 

Lear,   Tobias,  to   John   Langdon, 

31  Jan.,  1789 488 

Lee,  Charles,   to  Washington,   14 

April,  1788 463 

Lee,  H.,  Jr.,  to  Madison,  19  Nov., 

1788 484 

to  Washington,  17  Oct.,  1786. .  403 
from  Washington,  13  Dec.,  1788.  487 
Lewis,   Morgan,   to  Hamilton,   24 

June,  1789 493 

Lincoln,    B.,    to   Washington,    19 

March,  1788 462 

to  Washington,  34  Sept.,  1788..  479 
to  Washington,  35  Oct.,  1788.  .  483 
from  Washington,  3  April,  1788.  463 
Livingston,  R.  R.,  to  Lafayette,  34 

April,  1787 418 

to  Lafayette,  17  Sept.,  1788. . . .  478 
from   General   Knox,    10   Feb., 

1788 461 

from  Washington,  31  May,  1789.  493 
McHenrv,  James,  to  Washington, 

18  May,  1788 468 

from     Washington,    37     April, 

1788 465 

Madison,  from  Edward  CaiTington, 

18  Dec,  1786 406 

from  Carrington,  13  June,  1787.  438 
from  Carrington,  35  July,  1787.  436 
from  Carrington,  33  Sept.,  1787.  441 
from  Carrington,  18  Jan.,  1788.  456 
from  Carrington,  8  April,  1788.  463 
from  Carrington,  33  April,  1788.  464 
from  Carrington,  17  June,  1788.  470 
from  Carrington,  19  Oct.,  1788.  480 
from  CaiTington,  9  Nov.,  1788.  483 
from  Carrington,  15  Nov.,  1788.  483 
from  Carrington,  18  Nov.,  1788.  483 
from  Carrington,  36  Nov.,  1788.  484 
from  Dan.  Carroll,  38  April,  1788.  466 
from  F.  Corbin,  31  Oct.,  1788. .  482 


Madison,   from  William  Grayson, 

24  May,  1787 ." 433 

from  Grayson,  31  Aug.,  1787.  ..  439 
from  Cyrus  Griffin,  14  April,  1788.  463 
from  Jefferson,  6  Feb.,  1788.  .  ..  460 
from  Henry  Lee,  19  Nov.,  1788.  484 
from    James    Madison,    Sr.,    30 

Jan.,  1788 457 

from  Monroe,  14  Aug.,  1786 380 

from  Monroe,  30  Aug.,  1786 387 

from  Monroe,  3  Sept.,  1786 388 

from  Monroe,  13  Sept.,  1786. . .  393 
from  Monroe,  39  Sept.,  1786. ...  397 

from  Monroe,  16  Dec,  1786 405 

from  Monroe,  13  Oct.,  1787 444 

from  Monroe.  7  Feb.,  1788 460 

from  Monroe,  34  Sept.,  1788. . .  479 
from  Wm.  Moore,  31  Jan.,  1788.  458 
from  Wm.  Short,  7  May,  1787.  .  419 
from  ^V'ashington,  10  Oct.,  1787.  443 
from  Washington,  3  May,  1788.  467 
from  Washington,  33  June,  1788.  471 
from  Washington,  17  Nov.,  1788.  483 

Madison,  James,  Sr.,  to  Madison, 

30  Jan.,  1788 457 

Mason,  George,  Sr.,  to  George  Ma- 
son, Jr.,  30  May,  1787 431 

to  George  Mason,. Jr.,  1  June,  1787.  424 

Mercer,  John  Francis,  from  Wash- 
ington, 14  Jan.,  1788 455 

Monroe  to  Jefferson,  16  July,  1786.   371 

to  Jefferson,  19  Aug.,  1786 381 

to  .Jefferson,  13  Oct.,  1786 401 

to  Jefferson,  13  July,  1788 473 

to  Madison,  14  Aug.,  1786 380 

to  Madison,  30  Aug.,  1786 387 

to  Madison,  3  Sept.,  1786 388 

to  Madison,  13  Sept.,  1786 393 

to  Mndison,  39  Sept.,  1786 397 

to  Madison,  16  Dec,  1786 405 

to  Madison,  13  Oct.,  1787 444 

to  Madison,  7  Feb.,  1788 460 

to  Madison,  34  Sept.,  1788 479 

from  Carrington,  7  Aug.,  1787..  436 
from  E.  Gerry,  11  June,  1787...  438 
from  Grayson,  22  Nov.,  1786.  . .  404 
from  Grayson,  30  April,  1787. ..  418 
from  Grayson,  29  May,  1787.. . .  424 
from  Grayson,  8  Aug.,  1787.. . .  437 
from  Grayson,  22  Oct.,  1787.  . .  445 
from  Jefferson,  9  Aug.,  1788. . .  476 
from  Rufus  King,  30  July,  1786.  373 


500 


ES^DEX   TO    LETTERS    AND    PAPERS. 


Montmorin,  from   Otto,  20   July, 

1787 431 

Report  to,  8  Oct.,  1787 443 

from  Moustier,  5  June,  1789...  4'Jo 

from  Otto,  23  Oct.,  1787 447 

from  Otto,  10  Nov.,  1787 449 

from  Otto,  7  Dec,  1787 -. .  453 

from  Otto,  15  Dec,  1787 454 

Moore,  Wm.,  to  Madison,  81  Jan., 

1788 458 

Morris,  Gouverneur,  to  Washing- 
ton, 29  April,  1788 467 

Moustier,   Count,  Instructions  to, 

13  Oct.,  1787 448 

to  Montmorin,  5  June,  1789. . . .  495 
Nelson,  Gen.,  from  Washington,  3 

Aug.,  1788 475 

Oliio  Company,  Memorial  of,    21 

July,  1787 438 

Otto  to  Montmorin,  20  July,  1787.  431 

to  Montmorin,  23  Oct.,  1787  ...  447 

to  Montmorin,  10  Nov.,  1787  . .  449 

to  Montmorin,  7  Dec,  1787. ...  453 

to  Montmorin,  15  Dec,  1787. . .  454 

to  Vergennes,  13  Aug.,  1786. . .  878 

to  Vergennes,  23  Aug.,  1786.  . .  384 

to  Vergennes,  10  Sept.,  1786. . .  389 

to  Vergennes,  20  Sept.,  1786. . .  395 

to  Vergennes,  10  Oct.,  1786  . .  399 

to  Vergennes,  10  Nov.,  1786. . ,  403 

to  Vergennes,  10  Feb.,  1787  ...  410 

to  Vergennes,  16  Feb.,  1787   .  .  413 

to  Vergennes,  5  Marcli,  1787 . . .  415 

to  Vergennes,  10  April,  1787...  417 

from  Vergennes,  25  Aug.,  1780.  386 
from  the  Cabinet  of  Versailles, 

30  Aug.,  1787 438 

Parsons,  Sam\iel  H.,  to  Washing- 
ton, 21  April,  1788 463 

Powell,    Samuel,   to  Washington, 

13  Nov.,  1787 451 

from  Wasliington,  18  Jan.,  1788.  456 

fromWasliington,  15  Sept.,  1788.  478 
Ramsav,    David,    to    Jefferson,    7 

April,  1787 417 

Randolph,  ?].,  to  Washington,    2 

April,  1787 410 

to  Washington,  27  Dec,  1787..  455 

from  Washington,  19  Nov.,  1786.  404 
Rochamljcau   to   Wa,shington,    13 

:\Iav,   1787 420 

to  Wa.shington,  18  Jan.,  1788..  45U 


PAGE 

Rochambeau,    from    Washington, 

27  Nov.,  1788 484 

Schuyler,    Gen.,  to  his  son,  J.  B. 

Schuyler,  20  June,  1788 472 

Secretary  of  State,  from  Lord  Dor- 
chester 24  Oct.,  1787 448 

Short,  W. .  to  Madison,  7  May,  1 787.  419 
Smith,  William,  from  Jefferson,  2 

Feb.,  1788 459 

States  General,  from  Van  Berckel, 

12  Sept.,  1780 393 

Stone,  T.,  to  Washington,  30  Jan., 

1787 409 

Stuart,  David,  to  Washington,   8 

Nov.,  1786 402 

to  Washington,  19  Dec,  1786. .  406 
to  Washington,  25  Dec,  1786 . .  407 
from  Washington,  19  Nov.,  1786,  404 
from  Washington,  2  Dec,  1788.  486 
Sullivan,  President,  from  Knox,  21" 

Mav,  1787 423 

Sydney  to  Dorchester,  5  April,  1 787,  416 
to  Dorchester,  14  Sept.,  1787..  .  439 
from  Dorchester,  16  Jan.,  1787.  408 
from  Dorchester,  28  Feb.,  1787.  414 
from  Dorchester,  8  Nov.,  1787.  449 
Temple    to   Lord   Carmarthen,    7 

Julv,  1786 371 

to  Carmarthen,  4  Oct..  1786.. .  .  398 
to  Carmarthen,  5  April,  1787. , .  416 
to  Carmarthen,  7  June,  1787  , . .  425 
to  Carmarthen,  7  Jan.,  1789.. . .  488 
Trumbull,  Jonathan,  to  Washing- 
ton, 20  June.  1788 471 

Van  Berckel  to  the  States  General, 

12  Sept.,  1786 393 

Vergeimes  to  Otto,  25  Auff.,  1780.  386 

from  Otto,  13  Aug.,  1786 378 

from  Otto,  23  Aug.,  1786 384 

from  Otto,  10  Sept.,  1786 889 

from  Otto,  20  Sept.,  1786 395 

from  Otto,  10  Oct.,  1780 390 

from  Otto,  10  Nov.,  1786 403 

from  Otto,  10  Feb.,  1787 410 

from  Otto,  16  Feb.,  1787 412 

from  Otto,  5  Marcli,  1787 415 

from  Otto,  10  April,  1787 417 

Washington  to  Theodoric  Bland, 

15  Aug.,  1786 380 

to  .Tabez  Bowc^n,  9  Jan.,  1787..  407 
to  Charles  Carter,  20  Jan.,  1788.  457 
to  R.  Conway,  4  ]Marcli,  1789  . .  490 


ES-DEX    TO    LETTERS    AND    PAPERS. 


501 


"Washington  to  Conway,  6  ^Marcli, 

1789 491 

to  Ur.  James  Craik,  4  Aug.,  1788.  47(5 
to  John  Fowler,  2  Feb.,  1788.  .  459 
to  D.  Humphreys,  10  Oct.,  1787.  443 
to  Daniel  of  St.  Thomas  Jenifer, 

27  April,  1788 4G6 

to  T.  Johnson,  12  Nov.,  178G  .  .  403 
to  General  Knox,  27  April,  1787.  418 

to  Lafayette,  10  Jan.,  1788 455 

to  Lafayette,  28  May,  1788  ....  4G9 
to  John  Langdon,  3  Dec.,  1787.  452 
to  Plenry  Lee,  12  Dec,  1788.  .  487 
to  B.  Lincoln,  2  April,  1788.. . .  4(52 
toR.  R.  Livingston,  31  May,  1789.  492 
to  J.  McHenry,  27  April,  1788..   4G5 

to  Madison,  10  Oct.,  1787 443 

to  Madison,  2  Mav,  1788 407 

to  Madison,  23  June,  1788 471 

to  Madison,  17  Nov.,  1788 483 

to  J.  F.  Mercer,  14  Jan.,  1788. .  455 
to  General  Nelson,  3  Aug.,  1788.  475 
to  Samuel  Powell,  18  Jan.,  1788.  45G 
to  Samuel  Powell,  15  Sept.,  1788.  478 
to  E.  Randolph,  19  Nov.,  178G.  404 
to  Rochambeau,  27  Nov.,  1788.  484 
to  David  Stuart,  19  Nov.,  178G.  404 
to  David  Stuart,  2  Dec,  1788.  .  48G 
to   a\Irs.   ]\Iary   Washington,    15 

Feb.,  1787 412 

from  N.  Gorham,  21  July,  1788.  475 
from  Henry  Hill,  1  Oct.,  178G.  .  397 
from  J.  E.  Howard,  23  Jan.,  1789.  488 
from   D.    Humphreys,    9  Nov., 

178G ' 403 

from  Humphreys,  20  Jan.,  1787.  409 
from  Humphreys,  9  April,  1787.  417 
from  Jackson,  17  Sept.,  1787. . .  441 
from  John  Jay,  25  July,  1787  . .  43G 

from  Jay,  3  Feb.,  1788 460 

from  Jay,  24  March,  1788 4G2 

from  Jay,  23  July,  1788 .......   475 

from  Knox,  14  Jan.,  1788 455 


Washington,  from  Knox,  10  March, 

1788 402 

from  Knox,  25  May,  1788 4G9 

from  J.  Langdon,  6  Nov.,  1787.  448 
from  Langdon,  G  April,  1789. .  .  491 
from  Dr.  John  Lathrop,  IG  iMay, 

1788 468 

from  H.  Lee,  Jr.,  17  Oct.,  1786.  402 
from  Charles  Lee,  14  April,  1788.  463 
froniB.  Lincoln,  19  March,  1788.  462 
from  Lincoln,  24  Sept.,  1788...  479 
from  Lincoln,  25  Oct.,  1788. ...  482 
from  McHenry,  18  May,  1788..  468 
from  G.  Morris,  29  April,  1788.  467 
from    Samuel    H.    Parsons,    21 

April,  1788 463 

from  S.  Powell,  13  Nov.,  1787..  451 
froniE.  Randolph,  2  April.  1787.  416 
from  E.  Randolph,  27  Dec,  1787.  455 
from  Rochambeau,  12]May,  1787.  420 
from  Rochambeau,  18  Jan. ,  1788.  456 
from  T.  Stone,  30  Jan.,  1787. . .  409 
from  David  Stuart,  8  Nov.,  1786.  402 
from  D.  Stuart,  19  Dec,  1786. .  406 
from  D.  Stuart,  25  Dec,  1786. .  407 
from    Jonathan    Trumbull,    20 

June,  1788 471 

Washington,     Mrs.     Mary,     from 

Washington,  15  Feb.,  1787..  412 
Wj'the,   George,   to   Jefferson,   13 

Dec,  1786 405 

to  Jefferson,  22  Dec,  1786 407 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Articles  of  Confederation,  Re^iort 
on  Federal  Powers,  7  Aug., 
1786 373 

British  Ministry,  Information  for, 

5  Jan.,  1787 407 

Information  for,  8  March,  1787.  415 
Information  for,  June,  1787. .  .  .  424 
Information  for,  14  Oct.,  1788.   480 


THE   END. 


D.  APPLETON  &   CO.'S   PUBLICATIONS. 


New  revised  edition  of  BancrofCs  History  of  the  United  Stales. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  from  the  Discovery  of  the 
Continent  to  the  Establishment  of  tiie  Constitution  in  1789.  By 
George  Banoeoft.  An  entirely  new  edition,  complete  in  six  vol- 
umes, 8vo,  printed  from  new  type,  and  bound  in  cloth,  uncut,  with  gilt 
top,  $2.50 ;  sheep,  $3.50 ;  half  calf,  $4.50  per  volume.  Vol.  YI  con- 
tains the  History  of  the  Formation  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  a  Portrait  of  George  Bancroft. 

In  this  edition  of  his  great  work  the  author  has  made  extensive 
changes  in  the  text,  condensing  in  places,  enlarging  in  others,  and  care- 
fully revising.  It  is  practically  a  new  work,  embodying  the  results  of  the 
latest  researches,  and  enjoying  the  advantage  of  the  author's  long  and 
mature  experience.  The  original  octavo  edition  was  published  in  twelve 
volumes. 

"  On  comparing  this  work  with  the  corresponding  volume  of  the  '  Centenary' 
edition  of  1S76,  one  is  surprised  to  see  how  extensive  changes  the  author  has 
found  desirable,  even  after  so  short  an  interval.  The  first  tbing  that  strikes  one 
is  the  increased  number  of  chapters,  resulting  from  subdivision.  The  first  vol- 
ume contains  t«o  volumes  of  the  original,  and  is  divided  into  thirty-eight  chapters 
instead  of  eighteen.  This  is  in  itself  an  improvement.  But  the  new  arrange- 
ment is  not  the  result  merely  of  subdivision  :  the  matter  is  rearranged  in  such  a 
manner  as  vastly  to  increase  the  lucidity  and  continuousncss  of  treatment.  In 
the  present  edition  Mr.  Bancroft  returns  to  the  principle  of  division  into  periods, 
abandoned  in  the  '  Centenary '  edition.  His  division  is,  however,  a  new  one.  As 
the  permanent  shape  taken  by  a  great  historical  work,  this  new  arrangtmtnt  is 
certainly  an  improvement." — The  yation  {New  York). 

"  It  has  not  been  granted  to  many  historians  to  devote  half  a  century  to  the 
history  of  a  single  people,  and  to  live  long  enough,  and,  let  us  add,  to  be  willing 
and  wise  enough,  to  revise  and  rewrite  in  an  honored  old  age  the  work  of  a  ■nhole 
lifetime." — New  York  Mail  and  Express. 

"  The  extent  and  thoroughness  of  this  revision  would  hardly  be  guessed  with- 
out comparing  the  editions  side  by  side.  The  condensation  of  the  text  amounts 
to  something  over  one  third  of  the  previous  edition.  There  has  also  been  very 
considerable  recasting  of  the  text.  On  the  whole,  our  examination  of  the  first 
volume  leads  us  to  believe  that  the  thought  of  the  historian  loses  nothing  by  the 
abbreviation  of  the  text.  A  closer  and  later  approximation  to  the  best  results 
of  scholarship  and  criticism  is  reached.  The  public  gains  by  its  more  compact 
brevity  and  in  amount  of  matter,  and  in  economy  of  time  and  money." — Ihe 
Independent  {New  York). 

"  There  is  nothing  to  be  said  at  this  day  of  the  value  of  '  Bancroft.'  Its  au- 
thority is  no  longer  in  dispute,  and  as  a  piece  of  vivid  and  realistic  historical 
writing  it  stands  among  the  best  works  of  its  class.  It  may  be  taken  for 
granted  that  this  new  edition  will  greatly  extend  its  usefulness." — Philadelphia 
North  American. 


New  York  :  D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  1,  3.  &  5  Bond  Street. 


D.  APPLETON   &    CO.'S   PUBLICATIONS. 

HISTORY    OF    THE    PEOPLE    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES, 

from  the  Revolution  to  the  Civil  War.  By  John  Bach  McMastek. 
To  be  completed  in  five  volumes.  Vols.  I  and  II,  8vo,  now  ready, 
cloth,  gilt  top,  $2.50  each. 

Scope  of  the  Work. — Li  the  course  of  this  narrative  much  is  written  of  warSy 
eo7isj>iracie.t,  and  rehelliojts  ;  of  Presidents,  of  Conp-esses,  of  etnbassies,  of  treaties^ 
of  the  ambition  of  political  leaders,  and  of  the  rise  of  great  parties  in  the  nation. 
Yet  the  history  of  the  people  is  the  chief  theme.  At  evert/  stage  of  the  splendid  prog- 
ress which  separates  the  America  of  Washington  and  Adams  from  the  America  in 
which  we  live,  it  has  been  the  author^a  purpose  to  describe  the  dress,  the  occupations, 
the  amusements,  the  literary  canons  of  the  times  ;  to  note  the  changes  of  manners  and 
morals  ;  to  trace  the  growth  of  that  humane  spirit  which  abolished  punishment  for 
debt,  and  reformed  the  discipliiie  of  prisons  and  of  jails  ;  to  recount  the  manifold 
improvements  which,  in  a  thoiisand  ways,  have  multiplied  the  conveniences  of  life  and 
ministered  to  the  happiness  of  our  race  ;  to  describe  the  rise  and  progress  of  that  long 
series  of  mechanical  inventions  and  discoveries  which  is  now  the  admiration  of  the 
world,  and  our  just  pride  and  boast  ;  to  tell  how,  under  the  benign  influence  of  liberty 
and  peace,  there  sprang  up,  in  the  course  of  a  single  century,  a  prosperity  unparal- 
leled in  the  annals  of  human  affairs. 


"  The  pledge  given  by  Mr.  McMaster,  that  '  the  history  of  the  people  shall  be 
the  chief  theme,'  is  punctiliously  and  satisfactorily  fulfilled.  He  carries  out  his 
promise  in  a  complete,  vivid,  and  delightful  way.  We  should  add  that  the  literary 
execution  of  the  work  is  worthy  of  the  indefatigable  industi'y  and  unceasing  vigi- 
lance with  which  the  stores  of  historical  material  have  been  accumulated,  weighed, 
and  sifted.  The  cardinal  qualities  of  style,  lucidity,  animation,  and  energy,  are 
everywhere  present.  Seldom,  indeed,  has  a  book,  in  which  matter  of  substantial 
value  has  been  so  happily  united  to  attractiveness  of  form,  been  offered  by  an 
American  author  to  his  fellow-citizens." — New  York  Sun, 

"  To  recount  the  marvelous  progress  of  the  American  people,  to  describe  their 
life,  their  literature,  their  occupations,  their  amusements,  is  Mr.  ilcMaster's  object. 
His  theme  is  an  important  one,  and  we  congratulate  him  on  his  success.  It  has 
rarely  been  our  province  to  notice  a  book  with  so  many  excellences  and  so  few 
defects." — Xew  York  Herald, 

"  Mr.  McMaster  at  once  shows  his  grasp  of  the  various  themes  and  his  special 
capacity  as  a  historian  of  the  people.  liis  aim  is  high,  but  he  hits  the  mark." — 
New  York  Journal  of  Commerce, 

"  I  have  had  to  read  a  good  deal  of  history  in  my  day,  but  I  find  so  much 
freshness  in  tlie  way  Professor  McMaster  has  treated  his  subject  that  it  is  quite 
like  a  new  story." — Philadelphia  Press. 

"  Mr.  McMaster's  success  as  a  writer  seems  to  us  distinct  and  decisive.  In  the 
first  place  he  has  written  a  remarkably  readable  history.  His  style  is  clear  and 
vigorous,  if  not  always  condensed.  Ho  has  the  faculty  of  felicitous  comparison 
and  contrast  in  a  marked  degree.  Jlr.  McMaster  has  produced  one  of  the  most 
spirited  of  liistories,  a  book  which  will  be  widely  read,  and  the  entertaining 
quality  of  which  is  conspicuous  beyond  that  of  any  work  of  its  kind." — liostov 
Gazette, 

New  York:    D,  APPLETON  &  CO.,  I.  3.  &  5  Bond  Street. 


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